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As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion, – as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Musselmen, – and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.
Treaty between USA and Libya, signed at Tripoli, November 4, 1796, and at Algiers January 3, 1797. Proclaimed by George Washington, the first President of the United States, June 10, 1797   More: Was the USA founded on Christianity?

It does not do to leave a dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him.
JRR Tolkien, British writer of fantasy, born on January 3, 1892

I think the cover ugly, but I recognize that a main object of a paperback cover is to attract purchases, and I suppose that you are better judges of what is attractive in USA than I am. I therefore will not enter into a debate about taste – (meaning though I did not say so: horrible colours and foul lettering) – but I must ask this about the vignette: What has it got to do with the story? Where is this place? Why a lion and emus? And what is the thing in the foreground with pink bulbs? I do not understand how anybody who had read the tale (I hope you are one) could think such a picture would please the author.
JRR Tolkien in a letter to Ballantine, American publisher of The Lord of the Rings

Highly recommended:
Folklore of World Holidays
by Margaret Read MacDonald

The Great Goddesses of Egypt

The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt

The Tutankhamun Prophecies

The Mysterious Death of Tutankhamun

Tutankhamun

The Complete Tutankhamun

Tutankhamun the Exodus Conspiracy

Ancient Ways

Be A Goddess

The Oxford Dictionary of Saints

Lord of the Rings

(Platinum Series Special Extended Edition)

Philosophy of Popular Superstitions 1853

Spellcraft

The Encyclopedia of Saints

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Feast day of St Geneviève (St Genevieve; Genovefa), virgin, patroness of Paris 

(Persian fleur-de-lis, Iris persica, is today's plant, dedicated to this saint.)

Patroness of Paris, b. at Nanterre, France, c. 419 or 422; d. at Paris, 512 (sources differ; c. 500), who protected Paris from the threatened attack of Attila the Hun and whose life story has tales of miracles. When the Franks under Clovis (or Chlodowech, modern French 'Louis') (c. 466 - 511), King of the Salic Franks, a Germanic people occupying the area west of the lower Rhine, had subdued Paris, her solicitations moved him to mercy, and she converted him. Some say she died five months after death of Clovis and was buried near him in Church of St Peter and St Paul, since named the Church of St Genevieve. During the French Revolution it became the Pantheon, but was later reconsecrated.

It was said by her medieval biographer that she was a shepherdess, the only child of Severus and Gerontia, hardworking peasants, but modern evidence suggests that she came from a wealthy family. When Genevieve was just seven years old, St Germaine (Germanus of Auxerre) saw a penny on the ground, signed with the cross; he took it up and gave it to little Genevieve, with the request that she become the bride of Jesus Christ. She promised him and went to the church, but her mother was angry and hit her on the cheek, for which God struck the mother blind. After 20 months Genevieve washed her mother's eyes with holy water and sight was restored.

She prophesied invasions and disasters for Paris, could read people's consciences and calm the possessed; she brought back to life a young man who had drowned in a well.

She frequently ate only twice a week, Thursday and Sunday, and only tiny amounts (a small portion of three-week-old barley bread and some beans) until the age of 50 when her bishop commanded her to alter her diet. She experienced visions and prophecies, which initially evoked hostility from the people of Paris, to the point that an attempt was made to take her life.

One day a gust of wind blew out her candle, leaving her in the dark. Geneviève merely concluded that the devil was trying to frighten her. For this reason she is often depicted holding a candle, sometimes with an irritated devil standing near.

Miracles

In 451, shortly before Paris was besieged by Atilla the Hun , she encouraged the city's defence and organized prayers for God's protection of the city; to these prayers were attributed the diversion of Attila's army to Orléans. During Childeric's siege and blockade of Paris in 464, she led an expedition for food to relieve the famine, investing all her money to charter boats, and buy and bring back wheat from Troyes. At one point, however, when the crisis was at its height and the people were panic stricken, they turned against her, wanting to stone her and saying that she was a false prophet who would cause their destruction. She caused a church to be built on the tomb of Saint Denis (Dionysus) by miraculously providing the building materials. The priests could find no lime, so she sent them to the bridge of Paris; there they heard two swineherds talking about lime they had found. By her prayers the drinking bottles of the building labourers filled with water. A woman once stole her shoes and went blind until she returned them to the saint. She prayed over 12 Parisian men who were possessed, till the men were suspended in the air and the devils exorcised. Or, so it is said.

Geneviève made many pilgrimages in the company of other maidens to the shrine of St Martin of Tours. Her reputation for sanctity is so great that it even reached the pillar-sitting St Simeon Stylites the Elder in Syria, who asked to be remembered in her prayers.

After her death, miracles were wrought at her tomb, the most celebrated example being the 'Miracle des Ardens', or burning fever (ergot poisoning) of 1129, when thousands of the sick who saw or touched the saint's shrine were cured of the disease, and it was said to be a miracle. In 1130, Pope Innocent II ordered that date to be kept annually in commemoration.

In times of national crisis the French have often turned to Geneviève for help. In 1741, King Louis XV came to her church to thank her for a cure wrought at her intercession. When the Bastille was taken, people again came to thank her. In 1790, the Commune went to her church for Mass. In 1793, the body of St Geneviève was taken from her shrine and publicly burned at the Place de Greve. Some of the relics were spared and later placed in the Church of Saint-Étienne-du-Mont, where thousands visit them each year.

Patronage: disasters, fever, Paris, plague, WACs, women's army corps, drought and excessive rain, the French security forces.

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The Twelve Days of Christmas

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

In astronomy, January 3 is the approximate date of Earth's perihelion

The Quadrantids annual meteor shower (Jan 1 - 5)
The meteors appear to radiate from an area inside the constellation Boötes; the name comes from Quadrans Muralis, an obsolete constellation that is now part of Boötes. The best date to view the Quadrantids is January 3 or 4, although they can viewed from January 1 - 5.

"Tonight is the peak of the Quandrantid Meteors. This is normally a rather nice meteor shower, but it is often not observed. For one thing, the timing is bad. It is right at the first of the year, and so many people have other holiday things going on. Secondly, the Quadrantid Meteor Shower comes in the coldest part of the winter for the northern hemisphere, and that discourages many observers. But, this is summer in the southern hemisphere, so might it not be observed there? Unfortunately, the radiant is so far to the north that it is not above the horizon at night from a bit south of the equator except during the daylight. Worse, the Quadrantids often are rather dim meteors, and so bright moonlight washes them out."   Source

"Boötes has one of the hardest constellation names to pronounce; it should sound somewhat like bo-oat-tees, rather than a quick 'booties'. It is one of the older constellations but it has changed shape gradually over time before settling into the figure we use now. Most of the mythology connected with this constellation belongs to Arcturus, the brightest star in the Northern hemisphere of the sky. Boötes apparently actually means 'the ox driver' but because he is following the celestial bears around the poles and Arcturus means 'bear herder' as well the two have become synonymous. In Greek mythology Boötes was seen as Icarius, the first maker of wine. The story goes that one day Icarius, who was naturally a kind man, gave shelter to a stranger, who was the god Bacchus in disguise. Bacchus was delighted with Icarius' hospitality and as a reward, Bacchus taught Icarius how to make wine from the grapes he grew. The nearby constellation of Canes Venatici the Hunting Dogs is commonly associated with Boötes as well."   Source

Mythology & lore associated with Boötes, the Herdsman, Ploughman, Ox Driver, or Shepherd

Feast day of St Antherus, pope

Feast day of St Athanasius

Feast day of St Blitmund of Bobbio

Feast day of St Daniel of Padua

Feast day of St Fintan of Doon

Feast day of St Florentius of Vienne

Feast day of St Gordius of Cappadocia, martyr

Feast day of St Joseph

Feast day of St Peter Balsam, martyr

Feast day of St Primus

Feast day of St Theogenes

Feast day of St Zosimus

Click for Eastern Orthodox liturgical days    Shop saints

Customary Kalends of January (East Anglian tradition)

Night When Fates of Those Who Are to Die in the Coming Year are Decided, Tibet
(Source: The Phoenix and Arabeth 1992 Calendar)

Amamehagi Demons Festival, Monzen-machi, Ishikawa, Japan (Jan 2 - 6)

Casé gâteaux (Breaking the Cakes), a communal form of a mager-loa, Voudon (Voodoo) (Jan 2 - 4)

Visit of the Magi, Austria, till January 6

Shusho-E Matsuri, Japan (Jan 1 - 14)

Deer Mothers Dance
Pueblo women's fertility ceremony.
(Source: The Phoenix and Arabeth 1992 Calendar)

Genshisai (Genshi-sai), or First Beginning Ceremony, Japan
Genshisai is held at Kashikodoroko (sanctuary of the Imperial Palace) and local shrines. The Emperor offers a sprig of the sacred sakaki tree, and reads the imperial proclamation before the gods, as well as celestial, terrestrial and imperial ancestors. Today is one of the four great holidays observed by the imperial family.
Charles Kightly, The Perpetual Almanack of Folklore, Thames and Hudson, 1987

Genshisai videos at Google Video

Tamaseseri, Hakozaki Shrine, Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan
At this festival, a priest throws a wooden ball that has been wet in the sea; youths fight in two teams for the ball and the winners offer it to the shrine's deity.
Kightly, ibid

Revolution Day (1959), Burkina Faso

Formerly called Upper Volta, Burkina Faso was renamed in 1984 by President Thomas Sankara to mean 'the land of upright people' in Mossi and Dioula, the major native languages of the country.

"Who would have thought, back in the tumultous coup and counter coup days of the 1970s, that Burkina Faso would become the cultural darling of West Africa? Unlikely as it seems, Burkina Faso has become the Utah of West Africa, hosting a biennial film festival that rivals the Sundance Film Festival for cultural clout. When it's not hosting film festivals, it's busy organising its other biennial cultural festival.

"The Burkinabés are descended from a long line of regal emperors who have suffered the plebeian indignities of colonialism and blackbirding, but this has only served to strengthen and preserve their cultural identity. In fact, Burkina Faso consistently produces silk linings from pigs' ears; they come from one of the poorest countries in the world, but are principally known for their don't-worry-be-happy philosophy and reputation for hospitality; they have very few natural resources, but have managed to fashion a beautiful and culturally sophisticated country out of the little that they do have."   Source: Lonely Planet

106 BCE Marcus Tullius Cicero (d. 43 BCE), Roman statesman and philosopher renowned for his oratorical powers

He believed no man should pretend to be an orator before having learnt all the foundations of nature and art, so he improved his knowledge in his youth at the feet of some of the greatest scholars of his day and only became an orator when he was 26.

1793  Lucretia Mott (d. 1880), American women's rights activist and abolitionist

1803 Douglas Jerrold (Douglas William Jerrold; d. June 8, 1857), British writer; a contributor to Punch, he also founded a magazine and a newspaper bearing his name.

Son of a poor manager, Jerrold had little education or opportunity, and went into the Royal Navy. Early on, he gravitated into a literary career in London. He was as famous for his repartee and wit as for his writings. Some examples:

He defined dogmatism as "puppyism come to maturity".

As he made his customary fast pace down the street he was met by an old bore who wanted to collar him for a conversation. The old gentleman said "Well, Jerrold, my dear boy, what is going on?" "I am," said the wit, shooting off.

At a dinner of artists, a barrister's health was drunk and he was required to make a reply. The lawyer said he didn't see how the law could be considered one of the arts. "Black", interjected Jerrold.

A bludger wanted to borrow some money from Jerrold. "How much?" asked the writer. "Oh, just a four and two noughts," said the man. "Well, put me down for one of the noughts," answered Jerrold.

He said to Smith, who was a shadow and toady to a man, Jones, "Have you heard the rumour that's flying around town? They say Jones pays the dog-tax for you."

A friend wrote a book that Jerrold had criticised. Friend: "I heard you said it was the worst book I ever wrote." "No," Jerrold replied "I said it was the worst book anybody ever wrote."

1840 Father Damien (Damien De Veuster; d. April 15, 1889), Belgian missionary priest in Hawai'i (More on his memorial day, May 10). See also February 25, 1890, Robert Louis Stephenson's letter in defence of Father Damien.

1870 Henry Handel Richardson (b. Ethel Florence Lindesay Richardson; d. 1946), Australian author (The Fortunes of Richard Mahony; The Getting of Wisdom; The Garden Party, and Other Stories; Maurice Guest)

Bliss, and Other Stories, by Katherine Mansfield (HTML at Celebration of Women Writers)

More    And more

1883 Clement Attlee, 1^st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, FRS, PC (d. October 8, 1967), Labour Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from 1945 to 1951

1892 JRR Tolkien, (John Ronald Reuel) (d. September 2, 1973) South African-born British philologist and author (The Hobbit; The Lord of the Rings). He was Professor of Anglo-Saxon at the University of Oxford from 1925 to 1945, and Professor of English Language and Literature from 1945 to 1959.

Tolkien worked on the New English Dictionary, and was a professor of languages. His interest in linguistics inspired him to invent fifteen artificial languages (most famously the two Elvish languages from Lord of the Rings, Quenya and Sindarin), later elaborating an entire cosmogony and history of Middle-earth as background.

One day Tolkien informed CS Lewis of yet another addition to the growing catalogue of characters with which he was populating his Lord of the Rings. Lewis's reply: "Not another f---ing dwarf!"

The Tolkien Language List Archive    The Tolkien Timeline    More Tolkien quotes

Tolkien Trivia Quizzes    Shop Tolkien to support the Almanac

1907 Ray Milland (d. March 10, 1986), Welsh actor and director who worked primarily in the United States, born Reginald Alfred Truscott-Jones (he got his stage name from the flat area of land called the 'mill lands' on the banks of the river that Neath stands upon) at Neath, Glamorgan, Wales; he won Best Actor Oscar for The Lost Weekend (1942). Milland gave the shortest acceptance speech of any Oscar winner: he simply bowed and left the stage.

"During the filming of Reap the Wild Wind (1942), Milland's character was to have 'curly' hair. Milland's hair was naturally straight, so the studio used hot curling irons on his hair to achieve the effect. Milland felt that it was this procedure that caused him to go prematurely bald forcing him to go from leading man to supporting player earlier than he would have wished.

"Ha[d] a tattoo on his upper right arm of a skull with a snake curled up on top of it with the tail of the snake sticking out through one of the eyes. The tattoo can be seen for a brief moment in the movie Her Jungle Love (1938)."   Source

1909 Victor Borge (d. 2000), Danish piano-playing comedian

1916 Betty Furness, American actress, consumer advocate and current affairs commentator

1926 Sir George Martin, 'the fifth Beatle', producer of The Beatles' records

1941 Roger Rogerson, corrupt former Detective-Sergeant of the New South Wales Police Force, associate of Fred Krahe and Neddy Smith

1942 John Thaw (d. 2002), English actor

1945 Victoria Principal, US actress (TV series Dallas); born at Fukuoka, Japan (some sources say birthday is January 3, 1944, '45 or '46; Wikipedia says 1945)

1946 John Paul Jones, bassist (Led Zeppelin)

1945 Stephen Stills, US singer; vocals-guitar-keys (Buffalo Springfield; Crosby, Stills and Nash [and Young]; Manassas; solo)

Wilson's Almanac Book of Days hip list    CSNY midi

1956 Mel Gibson, American-born, Australian-raised actor (Mad Max; Lethal Weapon; Hamlet; Braveheart – two Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director). 

Gibson took up acting only because his sister submitted an application behind his back. The night before an audition, he got into a fight, and his face was badly beaten, an accident that won him the role. Some sources give 1951 as the year of birth.

"Though born in the US, Mel and his family moved to New South Wales, Australia after his father won as a 'Jeopardy!' (1964) contestant, in part because he wanted to avoid having his sons drafted in the Vietnam War. After high school Mel studied at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, performing at the National Institute of Dramatic Arts alongside future film thespians Judy Davis and Geoffrey Rush' ."   Source

 

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1496 Leonardo da Vinci unsuccessfully tested a flying machine.

1521 Pope Leo X excommunicated Martin Luther when Luther failed to meet a deadline to recant his views.

1582 A strange movement of earth was experienced in Dorset, England.

On Sunday, 3 January 1582, in the valley of the Cerf Blanc, Dorset, a piece of earth suddenly quitted its place of former time, and was transferred forty yards to another paddock, in which there were alders and willows. It stopped the high road leading to Cerne.Yet the same hedges which surrounded it still enclose it today, and the trees that were there are still standing. The place this bit of land occupied is now a great hole.
John Stow (c. 1525 - April 6, 1605), English historian and antiquarian

1777 Britain's forces were defeated by General George Washington at the Battle of Princeton.

1788 Captain Arthur Phillip, aboard HMS Sirius, sighted the coast of New South Wales.

 

1813 Bennelong (Benelong; b. c. 1764) died at Kissing Point, now known as Ryde, in Sydney's northern suburbs. Bennelong was a senior man of the Eora, a Koori (Aboriginal) people of the Port Jackson area, at the time of the first British settlement in Australia, in 1788. He subsequently served as an interlocutor between the two cultures, both in Sydney and in the United Kingdom, though was later marginalized and died in obscurity, shunned by the European community and even by his own people. He was long troubled by a tendency to over-consume alcohol.

Bennelong (married at the time to Barangaroo) was captured with Colbee (married to Daringa) in November, 1789, as part of NSW Governor Arthur Phillip's plan to learn the language and customs of the local people. Like another captive, Arabanoo, Bennelong soon adopted European dress and ways, learning to speak English. Bennelong is also known to have taught George Bass the language of the Sydney Aborigines, and gave Phillip the Aboriginal name Wolawaree to include him within a kinship relationship.

Although a captive, Bennelong served the British colonizers well by attempting to enlighten them about Aboriginal customs and language, in an ultimately vain attempt to aid relations between the two groups. In May, 1790, for example, Bennelong was present at Manly when Governor Phillip was speared by local Aborigines, managing to persuade the Governor that the attack was caused by a misunderstanding and therefore avoiding further bloodshed. Later that year, Bennelong asked the Governor to build him a hut on what became known as Bennelong Point, located between Sydney Cove and Farm Cove in Port Jackson, which is now the location of Sydney Opera House.

Although Bennelong appears to have had an ambivalent relationship with both the settlement and Governor Phillip, Bennelong and another Aborigine named Yemmerrawanie travelled with Phillip to England in 1792, and were presented to King George III on May 24, 1793. Sadly, Yemmerrawanie died whilst in Britain, but Bennelong returned to Sydney in February, 1795. Increasingly overwhelmed by European culture, Bennelong quickly became alienated from his own people after his return.

Bennelong is commemorated in the Australian Federal electoral division (seat) of the same name in New South Wales, until 2007 represented by former prime minister, John Howard.

Source: Wikipedia

A different historical perspective

"Woollarawarre Bennelong was a Wangal man who became a cultural mediator for the British after he was kidnapped with Colbee on 25 November 1789 ...

"Bennelong persuaded Governor Phillip to build a brick hut for him at Tubowghule which became known as Bennelong Point. He also dined with Phillip frequently, called him 'beanga' (father) and exchanged names with him.

"According to Wiradjuri historian Anita Heiss, this establishment of kinship with Phillip was necessary in order to enable communication of customs and relationship to the land. (Anita Heiss, 2002) 

"... Behind the scenes he supported Pemulwuy to resist the British and probably orchestrated Wileemarin's spearing of Phillip. 

"Using Phillip's gifts, Bennelong was able to gain influence among neighbouring clans such as the Cammeraigal and Bidjigal. Initially he was considered less 'distinguished' among the Eora than Colbee, but by February 1791 he was helping to extract teeth of young men in an initiation ceremony in Cammeraigal territory, an important role. 

"In 1792 Bennelong voluntarily accompanied Phillip when he returned to England. When he sailed back to Australia in 1795, he had acquired an eighteenth century English obsession with dress and table manners. 

"This did not impress his people, however. His lack of influence among them – particularly women – made him increasingly depressed, drunk, aggressive and vengeful. He died at Kissing Point (now known as Ryde) in Cammeraigal territory... (K. Smith, 2001)"   Source

 

The Bennelong Society Inc.    Portrait of Benelong    Indigenous peoples of Australia

 

1833 Britain seized control of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic.

1840 One of the Herald-Sun of Melbourne, Australia's predecessor papers, The Port Phillip Herald, was founded by George Cavanaugh.

1847 The California town of Yerba Buena was renamed San Francisco.

1853 A peat bog in Enagh Monmore, Ireland, measuring nearly a mile in circumference and several feet in depth, moved over sloping ground and ended up, twenty-four hours later, a quarter of a mile away.

1867 US: Joshua Norton I, Dei Gratia Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico, abolished Congress and called out the Army to clear out the riff-raff and crooks:

WHEREAS, a body of men calling themselves the National Congress are now in session in Washington City, in violation of our Imperial edict of the 12th of October last, declaring the said Congress abolished; WHEREAS, it is necessary for the repose of our Empire that the said decree should be strictly complied with;

NOW, THEREFORE, we do hereby Order and Direct Major-General Scott, the Command-in-Chief of our Armies, immediately upon receipt of this, our Decree, to proceed with a suitable force and clear the Halls of Congress.
January 1860 (exact date unknown)

Source: The Daily Bleed

1868 The 16-year-old Japanese emperor, Meiji, seized power from the military ruler, the Tokagawa Shogun. The Meiji dynasty was restored and the Shogunate abolished.  

1870 Construction began on the Brooklyn-New York Bridge.

1882 Oscar Wilde shocked Customs by declaring "nothing but my genius" on arrival in the United States.  

1888 The 91 cm refracting telescope at Lick Observatory, the largest telescope in the world at the time, commenced operation.

1899 The first known use of the word 'automobile', in an editorial in the New York Times.

1903 The Lumière brothers announced that they had developed a three-colour photographic printing process.

1907 Australian pioneer aviator Charles Kingsford-Smith (1897 - 1935), as a boy, was rescued from the surf with hundreds of others at Sydney's Bondi Beach, in one of the first recorded and largest surf rescues in Australian history. In later life, he went on to complete the first non-stop crossing of the Australian mainland and the first flight from Australia to New Zealand, and was also the first to complete the more difficult eastward Pacific crossing from Australia to the United States, in 1934.

'Smithy' makes first London - NY flight    First trans-Pacific flight

Was Charles Kingsford-Smith the first to be saved with a surf reel?

"Within surf lifesaving lore the answer has always been a young Charlie Smith, who would grow up to be none other than Charles Kingsford Smith. The reality, however, is different. While it is true that a young Charlie Smith nearly drowned at Bondi over the Christmas holidays of 1906/07, the surf reel had not yet been invented. The collaborative effort of Bondi Surf Bathers Life Saving Club foundation members John Bond, Lyster Ormsby and Percy Flynn,  the reel was not designed until March of 1907, making its first appearance on the beach during a public display on Sunday 24 March 1907 . The Sydney Referee noted of the demonstration: 'An example was given of the proper method of handling the life-line, which was fastened upon a reel, which is strong and portable, weighs 50 or 60lbs., when equipped, and proved to be effective in the quick handling of the line. There is no unnecessary slack, nor is there any risk of entanglement'. – Dr Sean Brawley, co-author of SLSA Centenary History Book"
Source: Surf Life Saving Australia: A brief history of surf lifesaving

 

1911 Three anarchists were burnt to death after a gun battle with police and the army in East London.

1912 Australia's first aviation school, Hart's, opened at Penrith, NSW.

1918 New Zealand-born physicist Ernest Rutherford announced that he had succeeded in splitting the atom.

1924 Two years after British archaeologist Howard Carter and his grave robbers discovered the tomb of the Pharaoh Tutankhamun near Luxor, Egypt, they uncovered the greatest treasure of the tomb – a stone sarcophagus containing a solid gold coffin that held the mummy of Tutankhamun.

1924 Sweden: A rain of red worms allegedly fell over Halmstad.

1925 Benito Mussolini announced he was taking dictatorial powers over Italy.

1938 USA: The March of Dimes was established by Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

 

1940 Unity Mitford (1914 - 1948), a British aristocrat who was friends with Adolf Hitler, arrived back in England from Germany on a stretcher after shooting herself when Britain declared war on Nazi Germany. After having sent a farewell letter to Hitler, she had shot herself in the head in the English Garden, in Munich.

She had become a devoted member of Hitler's entourage and a passionate though naive supporter of National Socialism, along with her sister Diana Mitford, who married the British fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley.

Mentally damaged, she spent the rest of her life on the island of Inchkenneth. Doctors had decided it was too dangerous to remove the bullet, and she eventually died of meningitis caused by the cerebral swelling around the lodged bullet.

Other famous Mitford sisters include the authors Jessica Mitford and Nancy Mitford.

 

1941 The AIF 6^th Division attacked Bardia, Libya, in World War II.

1945 Death of Edgar Cayce, psychic.

1946 William Joyce (1906 - 1946) (aka Lord Haw-Haw), American-born Nazi propagandist who broadcast from Germany throughout World War II, was hanged for treason in Britain.

1947 The US House of Representatives was televised for the first time.

1958 New Zealand mountaineer and explorer, Sir Edmund Hillary (b. 1919) and companions became the first to reach the South Pole since Captain Robert Falcon Scott's party on January 16, 1912.

1959 Alaska became the 49^th state of the USA.

1961 The United States severed diplomatic relations with Cuba.

1961 Morris Minor car number one million rolled off the assembly line, Britain.

1962 Pope John XXIII excommunicated Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

1967 Jack Ruby, the assassin who killed JFK assassin Lee Harvey Oswald (see November 24), died in prison of natural causes (?) while awaiting retrial.

1966 The first Acid Test at The Fillmore, San Francisco, California.

1969 USA: Police at Newark, New Jersey, confiscated a shipment of the John Lennon-Yoko Ono albums Unfinished Music No.1: Two Virgins, because the cover photo, featuring full frontal nudity, violated so-called pornography statutes.

Wilson's Almanac Book of Days hip list

1980 Joy Adamson, naturalist, conservationist and author of the best seller, Born Free, was murdered in a game park in Kenya.

1987 Aretha Franklin became the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

1990 Former leader of Panama Manuel Noriega surrendered to American forces; he had been holding out in the Vatican embassy in Panama City.

1993 In Moscow, George HW Bush and Boris Yeltsin signed the second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START).  

1999 The Mars Polar Lander was launched.

2000 The last Peanuts comic strip was created by Charles M Schulz.

Comix, comics and cartoons in the Book of Days

2000 The Mexican daily La Jornada reported that the Mexican Army was bombarded by the Zapatista Air Force in an air(mail) attack.

"Amador Hernandez, Chiapas – The Zapatista Air Force today attacked the Federal Army encampment here with paper airplanes. Some flew well and manoeuvred themselves right into the dormitories, hidden by vegetation and large black plastic sheeting. Others sputtered in flight and barely cleared the barbed wire fence.

"The aircraft, white in color and letter size, carried written messages for the federal troops which have occupied a portion of the outskirts of this community for the last five months. The barbed wire is not the only cutting edge: 'Soldiers, we know that poverty has made you sell your lives and souls. I also am poor, as are millions. But you are worse off, for defending our exploiter – Zedillo and his group of moneybags.'"

Source: The Daily Bleed

 

2002 A UK Office of National Statistics news release included the following findings based on names given to 267,875 boys and 254,978 girls born in 2001 in England and Wales:

Top 10 names given to boys: 1. Jack 2. Thomas 3. Joshua 4. James 5. Daniel 6. Harry 7. Samuel 8. Joseph 9. Matthew 10. Lewis.
To girls: 1. Chloe 2. Emily 3. Megan 4. Jessica 5. Sophie 6. Lauren 7. Charlotte 8. Hannah 9. Olivia 10. Lucy

Source

 

 

Tomorrow: The Viking giant who destroyed an English monastery

 

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25 weirdest true headlines of 2003

1. Crack Found on Governor's Daughter 
2. Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Expert Says 
3. Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers 
4. Iraqi Head Seeks Arms 
5. Is There a Ring of Debris around Uranus? 
6. Prostitutes Appeal to Pope 
7. Panda Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over 
8. Teacher Strikes Idle Kids 
11. Miners Refuse to Work after Death 
12. Juvenile Court to Try Shooting Defendant 
13. War Dims Hope for Peace 
14. If Strike Isn't Settled Quickly, It May Last Awhile 
15. Cold Wave Linked to Temperatures 
16. Enfield (London) Couple Slain; Police Suspect Homicide 
17. Red Tape Holds Up New Bridges 
18. Man Struck By Lightning Faces Battery Charge 
19. New Study of Obesity Looks for Larger Test Group 
20. Astronaut Takes Blame for Gas in Spacecraft 
21. Kids Make Nutritious Snacks 
22. Chef Throws His Heart into Helping Feed Needy 
23. Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half 
24. Hospitals are Sued by 7 Foot Doctors 
25. And the winner is ... Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery; Hundreds Dead

Source

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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