|
Aries Taurus Gemini
Cancer
Leo
Virgo
Libra
Scorpius
Ophiuchus
Sagittarius
Capricornus
Aquarius
Pisces
 Sun
enters Aquarius, 11th sign of the zodiac
(Jan 20 - Feb 18)
Aquarius,
the water bearer, is one of the oldest recognized constellations in the sky. It is found in
a region often called the
Sea due to its profusion of watery
constellations such as Cetus, Pisces,
Eridanus,
etc. Sometimes, the river Eridanus is depicted spilling from
Aquarius' watering pot.
Aquarius has been variously identified
through the ages. The best-known myth identifies Aquarius with Ganymede, a beautiful boy with whom
Zeus
fell in love, and whom he carried off to Olympus to be cupbearer to
the gods. Crater is sometimes identified as
his cup.
The astrological
sign Aquarius (January 20 - February
18) is associated with the constellation. In some cosmologies,
Aquarius is associated with the Classical Element Air, and thus called an Air Sign
(with Libra and
Gemini). Its polar opposite is
Leo.
Source: Wikipedia
Astrology
The
Real Constellations of the Zodiac
Astrology:
Pro
Astrology: Con
 Feast day of St
Sebastian
Sebastian, the
patron saint of archers, was an officer in the Roman army and a
favourite of the Emperor Diocletian. He was martyred in
288, by
being bound to a tree, shot at with arrows then beaten to death. He
is thus also the patron saint of pin makers. As he was a captain of
the guard, Sebastian is the patron saint of soldiers.
During the 14th Century, suffering
the pangs of the Black Death was
likened to being shot by an army of Nature's archers. Therefore, in
desparation the people prayed for the intercession of a saint
associated with archers, and St Sebastian became
associated with the plague.
Sebastian is patron of, among other things, archers, arrowsmiths, athletes, bookbinders, diseased cattle,
dying people, enemies of religion,
gardeners, iron mongers, laceworkers, lead workers, police, soldiers and stone masons.
Oscar Wilde and Sebastian
When
Irish playwright Oscar
Wilde
went to live in exile in France after his humiliating prison term in
England, he adopted the alias Sebastian Melmonth. The surname
Melmonth was a family name; Sebastian he took from the saint in a
rather pungent reflection on the prison uniform covered in arrows
that was used by Britain in those days.
Vendémiaire
| Brumaire
| Frimaire
| Nivôse
| Pluviôse | Ventôse
| Germinal
| Floréal
| Prairial
| Messidor
| Thermidor
| Fructidor
| Sansculottides
 First day of month of
Pluviôse (rainy month),
French
Republican Calendar
On October
24,
1793 the French National Convention adopted the French
Republican
Calendar (French Revolutionary Calendar) retrospectively as from September 22,
1792.
Napoleon
Bonaparte abolished it and restored the Gregorian calendar on January 1,
1806 (the day after 10 nivôse an XIV), a little over twelve years
after its introduction. However, it was used again during the brief Paris
Commune in 1871
(year LXXIX).
It was designed
by the politician and agronomist
Charles
Gilbert Romme, although it is usually attributed to
Fabre
d'Églantine, who invented the descriptive names of the months.
Instead of most days having a saint
as in the Catholic Church's calendar, each day has a
plant, a tool or an animal associated with it. Some enthusiasts
in France still use the calendar.
Each month
lasted 30 days and was divided into three decades. Every day had the
name of an agricultural plant, except the 5th (Quintidi)
and 10th day (Decadi) of every decade, which had the name
of a domestic animal (Quintidi) or an agricultural tool (Decadi).
Autumn
Vendémiaire
(from Latin vindemia, 'vintage'), begins Sep
22, 23 or
24
Brumaire
(from French brume, 'mist'), begins Oct
22, 23 or
24
Frimaire
(From French frimas, 'frost'), begins Nov
21, 22 or
23
Winter
Nivôse
(from Latin nivosus, 'snowy'), begins Dec
21, 22 or
23
Pluviôse
(from Latin pluviosus, 'rainy'), begins Jan 20, 21 or
22
Ventôse
(from Latin ventosus, 'windy'), begins Feb
19, 20 or
21
Spring
Germinal
(from Latin germen, 'seed'), begins Mar 20 or
21
Floréal
(from Latin flos, 'flower'), begins Apr 20 or
21
Prairial
(from French prairie, 'meadow'), begins May 20 or
21
Summer
Messidor
(from Latin messis, 'harvest'), begins Jun 19 or
20
Thermidor
(from Greek thermos, 'hot'), begins Jul 19 or
20
Fructidor
(from Latin fructus, 'fruits'), begins Aug 18 or
19
 Sansculottides
The Sansculottides
(also Epagomenes; French Sans-culottides, Sanculottides,
jours complementaires, jours épagomènes) are the end
of the calendar. They follow Fructidor
and precede Vendémiaire
of the next year, belonging to the summer quarter of the year.
The Sansculottides, named after the Sansculottes,
amend the 360 days of the calendar so that the beginning of the next
year is on the autumnal
equinox. There were five Sansculottides in a common year and six
in a leap year (from this derives the French name of the leap year année
sextile). The Sansculottides start on September
17 or 18
and end on September
22 or 23.
| |
1re Décade |
2e Décade |
3e Décade |
| Primidi |
1. |
Pomme
(Apple) |
11. |
Salsifis
(Salsify) |
21. |
Bacchante
(asarum baccharis) |
| Duodi |
2. |
Céleri
(Celery) |
12. |
Macre (Water
Chestnut) |
22. |
Azerole
(Crete Hawthorn) |
| Tridi |
3. |
Poire (Pear) |
13. |
Topinambour
(Jerusalem Artichoke) |
23. |
Garence
(Madder) |
| Quartidi |
4. |
Betterave
(Beet Root) |
14. |
Endive
(Endive) |
24. |
Orange
(Orange) |
| Quintidi |
5. |
Oye
(Goose) |
15. |
Dindon
(Turkey) |
25. |
Faisan
(Pheasant) |
| Sextidi |
6. |
Héliotrope
(European Turnsole) |
16. |
Chervi
(Skirret) |
26. |
Pistache
(Pistachio) |
| Septidi |
7. |
Figue (Fig) |
17. |
Cresson
(Cress) |
27. |
Macjonc (Sweetpea) |
| Octidi |
8. |
Scorsonère
(Black Salsify) |
18. |
Dentelaire (Leadwort) |
28. |
Coing
(Quince) |
| Nonidi |
9. |
Alisier
(Chequer Tree) |
19. |
Grenade
(Pomegranate) |
29. |
Cormier
(Service Tree) |
| Decadi |
10. |
Charrue
(Plough) |
20. |
Herse
(Harrow) |
30. |
Rouleau
(Roller) |
Source: Wikipedia Website converts
Gregorian calendar to FRC (and has desktop
program)
High
resolution image of the calendar by Louis-Philibert Debucourt
(951x1098, 486 KB)
Antique
Decimal Watches Criticisms
and shortcomings of the FRC Julian day calculator (pop-up)
Date
converter for numerous calendars, including this one
Calendrica,
great calendar comparisons
The
Book
of Days index page shows the current day's date in the French
Republican Calendar
Celtic tree
month of Beth
(Birch) Dec
24 - Jan 20 ends
Reindeer Day (no further
information given) Source
Feast day of St Benedict
Ricasoli
Feast day of St Cyprian
Michael Iwene Tansi
Feast day of St Daniel of
Cambron
Feast day of St Didier of
Thérouanne
Feast day of St Eustochia
Calafato
Feast day of St Euthymius
the Great
Feast day of St Fabian (Large dead nettle; Larnium garganicum is
today's
plant, dedicated to this saint.)
Feast day of St Fechin of
Fobhar, abbot in Ireland
Feast day of St Maria
Cristina dell'Immacolata Concezione
Feast day of St Maurus of
Cesena
Feast day of St Molagga of
Fermoy
Feast day of St Neophytus
of Nicaea
Feast day of St Paula
St Paula's
Feast Day celebrates a young girl saved from the passions of a
pursuer by running into a church, where she grew a beard
Click for Eastern Orthodox liturgical days Shop saints
Thorrablottar or
Husbands' Day, Iceland
Source: The Phoenix and
Arabeth 1992 Calendar
Baba Den
(Grandmothers' Day), Bulgaria
Source: The Phoenix and
Arabeth 1992 Calendar
La Tamborrada,
San Sebastian, Spain
(Jan 19 - 20)
Independence
Day, Tunisia
Rio de Janiero
Foundation Day, Brazil (San Sebastian is the city's patron)
Nosso Senhor
do Bonfim Festival (Festa do Bonfim),
Salvador,
Bahia,
Brazil
(c. Jan
13 - 20)
Last day of
Our Lord of the Happy Ending Festival, one of
Salvador's most colourful fiestas.
Jyogyodo
Hatsuka Yasai, Motsu-ji Temple, Hiraizumi-cho, Iwate Prefecture,
Japan
Men wearing only loincloths in the cold march in line following
a torchbearer. When they reach Motsu-ji they do battle for
possession of sacred charms.
Tenmangu
Kowakamai, Setaka, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan
The oldest style of bugaku in Japan is performed at this
festival. The dances performed here are progenitors of later styles.
Shiwasu Matsuri, Mikado Jinja, Nango,
Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan (Jan 20 - Feb 20)
This fest commemorates the area's
history as the site to where Korean nobles of the kingdom of Paekche
fled after their defeat in battle in the 7th Century. The Shiwasu
has a re-enactment of the meeting between the Paekche king and his
son, and here the visitor will see many traditional dances.
Taikan Misogi, Kasuga Jinja, Hofu,
Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan (3 days around Jan 20)
On what is decreed to be the coldest day of the year
(English tradition has January 13,
St Hilary's Day, as the coldest). Players soak themselves in a
bath of cold water before consuming hot drinks and porridge. This
practice helps prevent colds in the coming year. Or, so it is said.
Presidential Inauguration
Day in the United States (every
four years)
"Every
four years a newly elected president of the United States is
sworn into office on this date. Prior to 1933, presidents were
inaugurated on March 4, but when the Twentieth Amendment was
passed, January 20 became the official date for inauguration. A
legal holiday in Washington D.C." Source
National Heroes' Day,
Cape
Verde
National Heroes' Day,
Guinea-Bissau
Army Day, Mali
225 Gordian
III
(d. 244), Roman emperor
1435 Ashikaga
Yoshimasa (d. 1490), Ashikaga shogun
1554
Sebastian
I 'the Desired" (in Portuguese,
Sebastião I, o Desejado; presumed to have died at Alcazarquivir,
August
4, 1578),
the sixteenth king
of Portugal and Algarves. Sebastianism, the cult which arose
after his death is discussed at August
4 in the Book of Days.
1812 Thomas
Meik (d. 1896), engineer
1837 David Josiah
Brewer (d. 1910), US
Supreme Court justice
Pictured: (Left)
Harriot Easton Stanton Blatch public speaking;
(centre) Elizabeth Cady Stanton with daughter HES Blatch and granddaughter Nora Blatch;
(right) HES Blatch
1856
Harriot
Eaton Stanton Blatch (d. November 20,
1940), American women's rights
and peace activist and author (A Woman's Point of View;
Some Roads to Peace; Challenging Years).
Due to her organizing abilities, 20,000 people marched in the parade
down Fifth Avenue in New York in 1914, organized by the Women's
Political Union, which she founded. Blatch worked
with her mother, Elizabeth Cady Stanton,
and Susan B
Anthony in completing their History of Woman Suffrage,
contributing a large chapter on Lucy Stone's
American
Woman Suffrage Association, a rival organization to Elizabeth
Cady Stanton's
and Susan B
Anthony's
National Woman Suffrage Association.
Her daughter, Nora Stanton Blatch (b. 1883), was the first American
woman to receive the degree of Civil Engineer.
"During a visit from suffragist Anne Cobden-Sanderson, well-known in England but unknown in America, Blatch casually informed an immigration official of Mrs. Cobden-Sanderson's prison record. His efforts to block the well-connected suffragist's immigration made him an unwitting
'Sir Galahad' by creating all the publicity Blatch wanted. During the Republican parade preceding the 1908 election, Blatch stationed the exquisite Inez Milholland in a storefront window along the parade route. Distracted by this striking beauty, the young male marchers broke ranks, and
'the young Republicans were persuaded to withdraw and console themselves with suffrage literature'."
Source
More
Works by Harriot Eaton Stanton Blatch
A
world chronology of women's electoral rights
 1869 F Matthias Alexander
(Frederick Matthias Alexander; d. October 10,
1955), Australian actor
and elocutionist who developed the educational process that is today
called the Alexander
Technique – a method of helping people learn to free habitual
reactions of moving, learned by improving one's kinesthetic
judgment. He was born in Tasmania, later
moved to Melbourne, and
finally settled in London in 1904.
Some people who used the Alexander
Technique: John Cleese,
Aldous
Huxley, Nikki Tinbergen, guitarist Julian Bream, flautist James Galway,
educator John Dewey
(who had Alexander Technique lessons for 35 years) and New Zealand anthropologist,
Derek Freeman.
During Australia's bicentennial
celebrations in 1988, Alexander was recognised as one of the two hundred great Australians.
"Unfortunately his career was marred because he often lost his voice during performance. Continual medical treatment only gave Alexander temporary respite and his performance continued to be affected adversely. As his vocal problem was confined to his voice on stage Alexander speculated that he must have been doing something on stage in the act of reciting, which caused his vocal problems. Using mirrors, he began a 7 year long, detailed study of the way he was using his muscles when he spoke, and observed that undue muscular tension accounted for his vocal problem. He found that he habitually pulled his head back and down and shortened his neck before speaking. He also observed that such habits are common to all of us. When he corrected this habit, not only did his vocal problems disappear, his overall health improved as well. And so he discovered and developed the technique, which bears his name."
Source
"One thing puzzled Alexander: when talking to friends there were no voice problems, but on stage, his voice did not function efficiently. He wanted to solve this problem so obtained mirrors for observing the manner of his use when speaking normally or when reciting."
Source
Pictured: Australian therapist F Matthias Alexander teaching
the Alexander Technique to American educator John Dewey
F
Matthias Alexander and John Dewey (lots of
links) John Dewey Vs. the
Alexander Technique
The Complete Guide to
the Alexander Technique
1873 Johannes
Vilhelm Jensen (d. 1950), Danish author, Nobel
Prize winner
1876 Jozef Hofmann (d. 1967),
Polish pianist
1878 Ruth St Denis (d. 1968),
dancer
1894 Walter Piston,
American composer
1896 George Burns
(b. Nathan Birnbaum; d. March 9, 1996),
American comedian.
Straight man to his wife,
Gracie Allen ,
for many years, George Burns survived her by 32 years, during which
time he was unable to utter his famous line, "Say
goodnight, Gracie", an affectionate put-down that has become
part of the English language. More quotes from the
legendary funny-man:
More quotes from
funny-man George
Burns
Fall in love with what you
do for a living. I don't care what it is. It works.
Retire? I'm going to
stay in show business until I'm the only one left.
On appearance: Take
care not to wear stripes that are out of sync with your wrinkles.
I did go to school -
my kind of school. When I was a kid I went out... and you meet
people. You talk to them. Anybody says something that makes sense,
it stays with you, rubs off on you. That kind of school.
You know, lots of
times people have asked me what Gracie and I did to make our
marriage work. It's simple - we didn't do anything. I think the
trouble with a lot of people is that they work too hard at staying
married. They make a business out of it. When you work too hard at a
business you get tired; and when you get tired you get grouchy you
start fighting: and when you start fighting you're out of business.
Well, anybody can be
a straight man if he hears well. You just have to wait for laughs. A
straight man just repeats the questions and the comedian gets the
laughs and you just wait for them and don't let them die completely
at the tail end of the laugh.
On his age: I
get a standing ovation just standing.
Nice to be here? At
my age it's nice to be anywhere.
In what other
business can a guy my age drink martinis, smoke cigars and sing? I
think all people who retire ought to go into show business. I've
been retired all my life.
On gravity: Everything
that goes up must come down. But there comes a time when not
everything that's down can come up.
I would go out with
women my age, but there are no women my age.
Bridge is a game
that separates the men from the boys. It also separates husbands and
wives.
A young mind in a
healthy body is a wonderful thing. Especially for an old man with an
open night.
If you stay in the
business long enough and get to be old enough, you get to be new
again.
I use the cigar for
timing purposes. If I tell a joke, I smoke as long as they laugh and
when they stop laughing I take the cigar out of my mouth and start
my next joke.
I don't believe in dying ... It's been done.
There are many ways
to die in bed, but the best way is not alone.
I can't afford to
die; I'd lose too much money.
Commenting on
winning the Oscar at age 80 (oldest recipient): It couldn't have happened to an
older guy.
I was brought up to
respect my elders and now I don't have to respect ANYBODY. - George
Burns at 87
George Burns on
adultery: If you were married to Marilyn Monroe, you'd cheat
with some ugly girl.
Happiness is: A
good martini, a good meal, a good cigar and a good woman... or a bad
woman, depending on how much happiness you can stand.
More
1900 Colin
Clive (d. 1937), British actor
1907 Paula Wessley
(d. 2000), actress
1910 Joy Adamson
(murdered January 3, 1980),
author of Born Free,
who also researched culinary and medicinal uses of various plants in Kenya
1915
CW Ceram (d. 1972),
author
1915 Ghulam Ishaq
Khan, President
of Pakistan
1918 Esquivel (d. 2002),
musician
1920
Federico Fellini (d. 1993),
Italian film maker (La Dolce Vita; La Strada) who coined the
word Paparazzo to describe photographers hunting celebrities
1920 DeForest Kelly (d. 1999),
actor1920 Willie Fennell, Australian comedian
1921
Bernt
Engelmann (d. 1994), author1924
Slim Whitman, American country singer
1925 Ernesto
Cardenal, theologian, author and politician
1926 Patricia Neal,
actress
1926 David
Tudor (d. 1996), pianist and composer
1929 Arte Johnson,
actor
1930 Buzz
Aldrin (Edwin Aldrin), American astronaut; second person to
walk on the
moon very soon after
Neil
Armstrong. When asked by Deborah Solomon in
a New Yorks Times article if it was true that his
mother's maiden name really was Marion Moon, Aldrin replied, "Yes. I
didn’t feel NASA needed to know that. Somebody would think I was
trying to get favored treatment because my ancestors had the name
Moon. And that’s a joke." Aldrin told Solomon that he was a
recovering alcoholic and his "Sunday mornings are spent in a
recovery meeting in Pacific Palisades".
1936
Tom Baker, British actor,
the Fourth
Doctor (Dr
Who)
1944
Bill Griffith
(born William Henry Jackson Griffith in Brooklyn, NY, USA), popular
cartoonist in the
United States.
He grew up in
Levittown, Long Island. He is best known
for his panel
cartoon
Zippy the Pinhead. Griffith was a
prominent cartoonist in the
underground comix movement based out of
San Francisco in the late
1960s,
and along with
Art Spiegelman, Griffith co-founded the
comics anthology Arcade.
See original
Zip the Pinhead in the Book of Days.
About
Bill Griffith
Bill Griffith at
Comiclopedia
Comix, comics and cartoons in the Book of Days
1946 David
Lynch, film director (Twin Peaks)
1949 Göran Persson,
Prime
Minister of Sweden
1952 Paul Stanley,
musician, of the rock band KISS
1956 Bill
Maher, actor, comedian, political analyst
1958 Lorenzo Lamas,
actor
1969
Skeet Ulrich, actor
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Chinese New Year
![Valentine's Day [ Feb 14 ]](http://img.123greetings.com/homeimages/side_valentine_1.gif)
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
...
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Events
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1156 According
to legend, a Finnish soldier (or wealthy landowner) named Lalli martyred the English crusader bishop Henry of Uppsala on
the ice of the Finnish lake
known as Köyliönjärvi;
Henry thus became the patron saint
of that country. We told the
legend of this saint and his demise on January 19, Henry's
feast day.
1192
King Philip II of France laid siege to Gisors, a castle of
King Richard I of England
(the Lionheart).
1265 Westminster,
England: Parliament was called by Simon de
Montfort, the Earl of
Leicester, an act regarded widely as the foundation of the British House of
Commons.
England's first parliament
It met in the magnificent hall at Westminster,
which still survives. Simon de Montfort had held the weak King Henry III in his
power, a parliament was summoned in which
there should be two knights for each county and two citizens for every borough.
These first Commons having a say in the affairs of state were to be consulted in
any matter of national importance, including taxation.
1320 Duke Wladyslaw Lokietek
became king of Poland.
1356
Edward
Balliol resigned as King of Scotland.
1500 [Some sources say January 26] Spanish
navigator
Vicente Yañez Pinzón (1463 -
1514), in command of a Spanish expedition,
reached the coast of Brazil, soon becoming the first European to explore the
Amazon River, which he ascended to a point about
50 metres from the
sea.
Thinking at first that it was the
Ganges, he named it Rio Santa Maria de la Mar Dulce, which soon became abbreviated to Mar Dulce, and
for some years, after 1502, it was known as the Rio Grande. The principal
companions of Pinzón, in giving evidence in 1513, mention it as El Ryo Haranon. Apart
from the claims of
Amerigo Vespucci,
this is regarded as the official discovery of the river.
A native of Palos and brother of
Martín Alonso Pinzón
(Spanish navigator and companion of
Christopher
Columbus on his first
voyage to the New World), in 1492 Vicente Pinzón had sailed with the first
voyage of Columbus to the West Indies as captain of the
Niña.
1513 Christian II became King of Denmark and Norway.
1523
Christian II was
forced to abdicate
as King of Denmark
and Norway.
1568 Miles
Coverdale (Myles Coverdale),
80, translator and publisher of the first printed English-language
Bible, died. He completed the
translation of the Old Testament that William Tyndale had left unfinished at his
death in 1536. Coverdale was born probably in the
place known as Coverdale,
in that district
of the North
Riding of Yorkshire called Richmondshire,
England, 1488.
He died in London
and was buried in St Bartholomew's
Church on February 19,
1568.
1612 Death of Bishop Rudolf II, Holy Roman
Emperor; like alchemist John Dee, an unconfirmed one-time owner of the
Voynich Manuscript.
1667 Polish-Lithuanian
Commonwealth ceded Kyiv,
Smolensk,
and left-bank Ukraine to Imperial
Russia in the treaty of Andrusiv.
 1779 One of Britain's most famous actors of all time, David
Garrick (b. 1717), died.
Death of David Garrick,
superstar of his age
At Christmas, 1778, David Garrick, of whom it was said he never would have a
rival, had a fit while visiting Lord Spencer. The actor did not recover and died
at the age of 62 at his house in London. Dr Johnson said "his death eclipsed
the gaiety of nations". Garrick's remains lay in state and were buried in
Westminster Abbey, with great pomp.
1783
Britain
signed a peace treaty with France and Spain, officially ending
hostilities in the Revolutionary War.
1801 John
Marshall was appointed Chief
Justice of the United States.
1838 In Britain, Murphy's Almanac predicted for this day
"Fair. Prob. lowest deg. of Winter temp." Fortunately for Mr Murphy's
reputation, this day turned out to be a real chiller: it hit 4 degrees below
zero (Fahrenheit). Murphy cleared 3,000 pounds by the 1838 almanac, a huge sum
in those days, because of the faith the public put in him.
1839
In the Battle
of Yungay, Chile
defeated a Peruvian
and Bolivian
alliance.
1840 Dumont
D'Urville discovered Adélie Land, Antarctica.
1841 Hong Kong was ceded to Britain by China.
1841 Jørgen Jørgensen
(b. 1780), one-time claimant to
the throne of Denmark and Iceland, died in poverty at Hobart, Tasmania,
Australia.
1848
Death of Bishop Christian VIII of
Denmark (b. 1786).
1850 Death of Bishop Adam Oehlenschlager
(b. 1779),
Danish poet.
1853 UK: The Royal Photographic society was founded.
1878 Cleopatra's Needle,
the 3,500-year-old (and thus misnamed, as it was old when Queen Cleopatra lived two
millennia ago)
obelisk still standing in London, arrived there from Egypt. 'Cleopatra's Needle' is the name given to
two Egyptian obelisks, formerly at Alexandria, Egypt, another of which is now in New
York.
The needles are made of the rose-red granite
of Syene, and were originally erected by the Egyptian king Thothmes III in front
of the great temple of Heliopolis, where Moses was born. They were taken to
Alexandria shortly before the commencement of the Christian era, and after the
death of Cleopatra, but possibly according to a plan originated by her. The New
York obelisk was presented to America by the Rhedive of Egypt, and erected in
Central Park in 1881.
1880 Australian bushranger,
Captain
Moonlite (Captain Moonlight; Andrew George Scott) and Thomas Rogan were hanged at Darlinghurst
Gaol, Sydney. Scott's grave is in the Anglican section of the North Gundagai
Cemetery, within a few metres of James Nesbitt and Augustus
Wernicke.
More
And more
Highwaymen, outlaws, bushrangers, pirates, gangsters, etc in the
Book of Days
1882 A drapery in Newcastle, England, became the world's first shop
to be lit by electric light.
1885
LA
Thompson patented the roller coaster.
1887
Loss of the Kapunda: The British ship, Kapunda,
collided with the Ada Melmore, barque, of Belfast, off the Brazilian coast with the loss of
302 lives. Kapunda was bringing immigrants to
Western Australia.
More
More
1887
The United States Senate
allowed the Navy to lease Pearl
Harbor as a naval base.
1890 In
Washington,
DC, the
First International Conference of American States began,
finishing on
April 27.
1891 James Hogg became the first
native Texan to
be governor of that state.
1907 Death of Bishop Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev (b. 1834),
Russian chemist
and inventor of the Periodic table.
1909 Mohandas
Karamchand Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi),
Indian leader and proponent of civil disobedience,
wrote to the press, calling on Indians to prepare for the final phase of
struggle in South Africa.
1910 Canberra was named as the new capital of Australia.
1920
USA: The 50-50 Club opened, arguably the first
speakeasy.
1921
Turkey's first
constitution was adopted, which made fundamental change in the source and
exercise of sovereignty.
1925 The British-Chinese Treaty of Peking.
1929
The movie In Old Arizona was
released. The film was the first full-length talking film to be filmed outdoors.
1936 On
the death of King George
V (b. 1865), Edward VIII became King
of the United Kingdom (abdicated
December 10, 1937).
"King George V of England is euthanized with
injections of cocaine and morphine, after a painful cancer illness. His
physician was motivated not only to ameliorate the king's suffering, but also to
break the story in the morning edition of the newspapers, 'rather than the less
appropriate evening journals.'" Source
1937
Franklin D Roosevelt
was inaugurated for a second term as President of
the United States after a landslide victory. This was the first inauguration
scheduled on January 20, following adoption of the 20th
Amendment. Previous inaugurations were scheduled on March 4.
1941 Franklin D Roosevelt
was inaugurated for a third term as President of the United States, becoming the
only President to be elected to three terms.
1942 World War
II: Nazis at
the Wannsee conference in Berlin decided the
'final
solution to the Jewish
problem" was relocation. The decisions of the conference led to the Holocaust.
The records and minutes of the meeting were found intact by the Allies at the
end of WW II and
used during the Nuremberg Trials.
The protocol of the meeting was prepared by Adolf
Eichmann aided by Reinhard Heydrich and does not explicitly mention
mass murder; Eichmann later admitted at his trial that the actual language used
during the conference was much more blunt and included terms such as
'extermination' and 'annihilation'.1943 Jean Paul Sartre's classic work on existentialism, Being and Nothingness, was published.
1944
World
War II: The Royal Air Force dropped
2,300 tons of bombs on Berlin.
1945 Franklin D Roosevelt
was inaugurated for a fourth term as President of the United States, becoming
the only President to be elected to four terms.
1945 Hungary dropped out of the Second
World War, agreeing an armistice with the Allies.
1948
Birla House, Delhi, India: A bomb
exploded in midst of a prayer meeting attended by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi).
1949 Harry
S Truman was re-inaugurated as the 33rd President of the United States.
1949 J Edgar Hoover gave Shirley Temple a tear-gas
fountain pen.
1952
Edgar
Faure became Prime Minister of France.
1953 Dwight D Eisenhower was
inaugurated as the 34th President of the United States.
1954 USA: The
National Negro
Network was established with 40 charter member radio stations. 1957 Dwight D Eisenhower was
inaugurated for a second term as President of the United States.
1958 Elvis
Presley received his draft notice. 1958 Sir Edmund
Hillary, New Zealand mountaineer, became the first
man to reach the South Pole since Captain
Robert Falcon Scott
('Scott of the Antarctic).
1958 St Louis, Missouri, USA, radio station KWK
completed its 'Record Breaking Week'. Orders of station management had all
rock & roll music banned from the airwaves. The disk jockeys gave every rock
& roll record in the station library a 'farewell spin' before smashing
it into pieces. Station manager Robert Convey called the action "a simple
weeding out of undesirable music".
1961 John
Fitzgerald Kennedy took the oath of office as the 35th, and youngest ever, President of the United States.
Robert Frost, 87, recited his poem, The Gift Outright,
at President Kennedy's inauguration. Kennedy, who charmed the media,
embroiled the US and consequently several other nations, in a war in Vietnam
that saw two million people of that country killed.
1964 The Great Train Robbers went on trial in London.
History's most famous
heist, the Great
Train Robbery took place in England on
August 8, 1963. A 16-member gang
stole 2,631,784
pounds – worth over 26 million pounds ($AU75.5 million) today – in used bank notes
which were on their way back to the Bank of England for burning.
Two London gangs combined for the stick-up. Best known of the
robbers, the fun-loving Ronald Biggs
(Ronnie Biggs),
was a member of neither, but was chosen because he knew the train driver. For his minor role in the robbery, Biggs was given a 30-year sentence, considered by many to be out of proportion to his crime. He gained fame by escaping from prison and remaining free for 28 years under the noses of Scotland Yard. Biggs lived secretly in Australia, then publicly in Brazil, made a movie with the Sex Pistols, and became an even bigger celebrity, making a living by being available for barbecues for a fee.
Old and infirm, Ronnie Biggs in 2001 made a celebrated voluntary return to Britain, and despite having lived a reformed life for 38 years, was arrested at London's airport and remains in prison. One can only presume Biggs decided that English prison was preferable to Brazilian hospital. One might also conclude that British justice has an elephantine memory not only for people who break the law, but also for those who embarrass it.
Biggs interview
1964
Meet
the Beatles, the first Beatles album in the United
States, was released.
1964 "The world's largest cheese was made, a 34,000 pound cheddar. It was
created by the Wisconsin Cheese Foundation for the 1964/65 New York
World's Fair. It took 170,000 quarts of milk from 16,000 cows. It
was eaten at the 1965 annual meeting of the Wisconsin Dairymen &
Cheesemakers Association." Source
1965
Lyndon B Johnson was
re-inaugurated as the 36th President of the United States.
1968 Despite
his much rumoured falling out with the New York-Cambridge folk singer circle,
Bob Dylan joined Pete
Seeger, Judy Collins,
Arlo Guthrie, Odetta, Richie Havens,
Ramblin' Jack Elliott and
The Band in commemorating the late Woody Guthrie. This
was Dylan's first appearance since his motorcycle accident two years previously.
Wilson's
Almanac Book of Days hip list
1969
The first pulsar
was discovered, in the Crab Nebula.
1969
People's
Park in
Berkeley, California, USA was declared a National Hallucination.
1969 Richard M Nixon was
inaugurated as the 37th President of the United States.
1973
Richard M. Nixon was inaugurated for a second term as President of the United
States.
1975 Film producer Michael
Ovitz founded Creative Artists
Agency.
1977 Jimmy Carter was
inaugurated as the 39th President of the United States.
1977
Press censorship ended in India.
1981
Ronald
Reagan was inaugurated as the 40th President of the United States, the oldest to take such office. On the day of Reagan's
inauguration, the 52 hostages held in Iran were released.
Ronald Reagan and the Zero Curse
Among his achievements is the fact that he beat
the Zero Curse. "Previously, every American president elected in the last year
of any of the 20-year intervals from 1840 onwards, died in office."
John May, The Book of Curious Facts,
Collins and Brown, London, UK, 1993, p. 75
1982 Five transnational companies – Hitachi, JVC, Philips,
Matsushita and Sony – agreed to cooperate on the development of the camcorder.
1982 English rock musician Ozzy Osbourne ended up in
hospital in Des Moines, USA after he bit the head off of a dead bat that was
hurled on stage by a fan during a concert.
1985
Ronald Reagan was inaugurated for a second term as President of the United
States.
1986 USA:
Martin Luther King, Jr
Day was celebrated as a federal holiday for the first time.
1986 The United Kingdom and France announced
plans to construct the Channel Tunnel.
1987 Terry Waite
(b. 1939), an
envoy of the Archbishop
of Canterbury, was kidnapped in Lebanon by the pro-Iranian Islamic Jihad for
the Liberation of Palestine, while on a mission to help release other hostages.
He was finally released on
November 18,
1991. 1988 Palestinians began the intifada
(uprising) against the Israeli occupiers of the West Bank.
1988 A prehistoric mammoth was found by Russian goldminers. The flesh was so
well preserved it looked edible.
1989
George HW Bush was
inaugurated as the 41st President of the United States.
1991 Sudan's government imposed Islamic law
nationwide, worsening the civil war
between the country's Muslim north and Christian
south.
1991 Iraq paraded a group of captured Allied pilots in front of the
TV cameras for propaganda purposes.
1993
Bill
Clinton was inaugurated as the 42nd President of the United States.
1994 In South
Carolina, USA, Shannon Faulkner became
the first female cadet to attend The Citadel but soon dropped
out.
1996 Yasser
Arafat was elected president of the Palestinian Authority.
1996 UFO
sightings and an alleged crash of a UFO, with alien occupants seen, Varginha,
Brazil.
"Of the 120,000 inhabitants [of
Varginha], several hundreds saw something strange in the day and following
of 20th/Jan/1996, but only a few dozen of people, some civilian and some
military, truly national heroes, had the courage to come to the public, or
looked for ufologists who are investigating the case, and reported what they
saw." Source
 1996
"On 20
January 1996, just before the Feast of Ramadan, a farmer in Taiba-Ndiassana,
Senegal, discovered a watermelon on which the name of Allah had appeared. The
year before similar signs appeared on the scales of a fish caught near
Popenguine, home to the largest Catholic community in Senegal.
"Mrs Ruksana Patel, in Bolton, England, bought an
aubergine from a local shop. On slicing the vegetable in half, she saw that the
seeds were formed in the Muslim symbol 'Ya-Allah,' meaning 'Allah exists.'
"A Turkish grocer from the Regent Quarter of The
Hague, Holland, bought some eggs fresh from the farm and had them on sale in his
shop. But two of the eggs seemed slightly strange. 'I noticed that the shells
were a little misshapen,' he said. 'Very odd, just like Arab letters. And
then suddenly I saw it: "Allah." He had also bought about five kilos of
beans, about 500 grams of which bear the name "Allah." Out of respect he did not
feel he could sell the remaining beans: he decided to give them to the mosque.
About 40 people enjoyed a complete meal from these beans and there was still
food left over.'
(Courtesy of Share International)" Source
1997
Bill Clinton started his second term as President of the United States.
1999 The China News Service
announced new government restrictions on Internet use aimed especially
at Internet bars and cafes. China still blocks much of the Internet to its citizens so they can't read items like this.
2001 Heil to the Thief: George
W Bush was inaugurated as the 43rd President of
the United States.
2002 Inauguration of Churches Uniting
in Christ.
2005 Worst USA President
ever: George W Bush was inaugurated
for a second term as President of the United States.
2160 Dawning of the Age of Aquarius, when the Sun moves into the 11th sign of
the zodiac. Some astrologers believe the next 2,000 years will bring a Golden
Age of Enlightenment. That makes sense.
Tomorrow: A day devoted to sheep
Main calendar
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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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