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reetings from Australia.
Welcome to this Red-Letter Day. Below you will find today's global celebrations, birthdays and events.
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When
amatory
poets sing their loves Kings are wont to
pardon wicked persons, not innocent men. We have done nothing to
deserve such a pardon. We have been guilty of no crime. Cast hedge and
ditch in the lake I am ready, and
will be ready at all times, to do whatever, not only to repress, but
to subdue the power of great men. Whatsoever lands I have enclosed
shall again be made common unto ye and all men, and my own hands shall
first perform it. |
A la Saint Wilgefortis? |
They spell it Vinci
and pronounce it Vinchy; foreigners always spell better than they
pronounce.
Mark Twain, The
Innocents Abroad (Ch. 19), published on July 20, 1869
In some ways I
believe I epitomise the average New Zealander: I have modest abilities, I
combine these with a good deal of determination, and I rather like to
succeed.
Edmund Hillary, New Zealand mountaineer, born on July 20, 1919
Sir Ed described himself as an average New Zealander with modest abilities. In
reality he was a colossus. He was an heroic figure who not only "knocked off"
Everest but lived a life of determination, humility and generosity.
Jenny Shipley, New
Zealand prime minister, on Edmund Hillary
Well George, we finally knocked the bastard off.
First
words of Edmund Hillary to his lifelong friend, George Lowe, upon his
descent from Everest. Lowe had climbed up to meet Hillary and Norgay
with hot soup.
It was a measure of
the men [Hillary and Tenzing] that over the years they truly grew into the
[heroic] condition. Perhaps they thought that just being the first to
climb a hill was hardly as qualification for immortality; perhaps they
instinctively realised destiny had another place for them. For they
became, in the course of time, representatives not merely of their
particular nations, but of half of humanity. Astronauts might justly claim
that they were envoys of all humanity; Hillary and Tenzing, in a less
spectacular kind, came to stand for the small nations of the world, the
young ones, the tucked away and the up-and-coming.
TIME magazine, 100 People of the Century, 2000
I have no wish to be
the victim of the Fraud of a black world.
My life should not be devoted to drawing up the balance sheet of Negro
values.
There is no white world, there is no white ethic, any more than there is a
white intelligence.
There are in every part of the world men who search.
I am not a prisoner of history. I should not seek there for the meaning of
my destiny.
I should constantly remind myself that the real leap consists in
introduction invention into existence.
In the world through which I travel, I am endlessly creating myself.
Frantz Fanon, Algerian revolutionist, born on July 20, 1925; from Black
Skin, White Masks, 1952
I walk on white
nails. Sheets of water threaten my soul on fire. Face to face with these
rites, I am doubly alert. Black magic! Orgies, witches' sabbaths,
heathen ceremonies, amulets. Coitus is an occasion to call on the gods of
the clan. It is a sacred act, pure, absolute, bringing invisible forces
into action. What is one to think of all these manifestations, all these
limitations, all these acts? From very direction, I am assaulted by the
obscenity of dances and words.
Frantz Fanon; ibid
(p 126; parody of constructions of 'blackness')
I made myself the
poet of the world. The white man had found a poetry in which there was
nothing poetic. The soul of the white man was corrupted, and, as I was
told by a friend who was a teacher in the United States, 'The presence
of the Negroes beside the whites is in a way an insurance policy on
humanness. When the whites feel that they have become too mechanized, they
turn to the men of color and ask them for a little human sustenance.' At
last I had been recognized, I was no longer a zero.
Frantz Fanon; ibid
Is not whiteness in
symbols always ascribed in French to Justice, Truth, Virginity?
Frantz Fanon
The national
bourgeoisie will be greatly helped on its way toward decadence by the
Western bourgeoisies, who come to it as tourists avid for the exotic, for
big game hunting, and for casinos. The national bourgeoisie organizes
centers of rest and relaxation and pleasure resorts to meet the wishes of
the Western bourgeoisie. Such activity is given the mane of tourism, and
for the occasion will be built up as a national industry.
Frantz Fanon
In guerrilla war the
struggle no longer concerns the place where you are, but the places where
you are going. Each fighter carries his warring country between his toes.
Frantz Fanon
July
20 is
the 201st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (202nd
in leap years), with 164
days remaining.
Calendar converter Almanacs,
calendars, time, dedicated weeks, etc
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links on this page move address or die, I might allow them to stay here, but the
Wayback Machine might help you
locate the original.
Feast day of
St Margaret of
Antioch
Margaret was an aprocryphal
virgin and martyr of the third century, a
dragonslayer known
to the Greeks as St Marina. The father of the beautiful Margaret was a
pagan priest in Pisidian Antioch, Asia Minor (modern Turkey).
Olybrius, governor
of Antioch, was smitten by her beauty when he saw her tending sheep, and he tried to woo her into his bed.
Being
rejected by her, and because she refused to worship pagan gods,
Olybrius denounced her as a Christian, and she was brought to trial. She was imprisoned
in a dungeon where the Devil came to her in the form of a dragon, but she
held up the cross which irritated the dragon's
belly
(accounting for Margaret's association with pregnancy, labour, and childbirth) and the serpent
fled. Those who had imprisoned her tried to burn her,
then boil her in a large cauldron, but each time her prayers kept her
unharmed. She was finally martyred by beheading.
Folklorist Waverly
Fitzgerald writes that the plant, Wheatfield poppy, supposedly sprang
from the blood of the dragon she slew. Long before, it was dedicated to
Diana and Demeter as the source of healing sleep and death. Her other
flower, the daisy, is also called in France La belle Marguerite.
Margaret's
patronage includes against sterility,
childbirth, dying people, escape from devils,
exiles, falsely accused people,
kidney disease,
loss of milk by nursing mothers,
martyrs, nurses, peasants, people in exile, pregnant women and women.
She was one of the saints who appeared to Saint Joan of Arc, and is one of the Catholic Church's Fourteen Holy Helpers. Her flower, according to the folklorist Hone, is the Virginian dragon's head, Dracocephalus virginianum.
Today is Margareta name day in Sweden. In England, where she was nicknamed St Peg, people believed that honouring Peg would bring them God's protection against illness and evil spirits. In Gloucestershire, UK, her day was celebrated with a plum pudding known as 'Heg Peg Dump'.
Of saints and serpents*
Many Christian saints are known to have been associated with dragons; some are dragon-slayers, while some are depicted in art with dragons for various other reasons, such as a representation of Satan (dragons and serpents are quite numerous in the Bible).
Saints Anatolia and Audax, Andrew Abellon, Adelphus, Armel (Armagillus) of Brittany, Armentaire (Armentarius of Antibes) of Draguignan, Attracta, Barlaam, Cadoc, Catherine, Celestine I, Clement, Columba, Donatus, Dometius of Phrygia, George, Germanus, Gilbert of Caithness, Godehard of Hildesheim, Guthlac, Hilarion of Gaza, Hilary of Poitiers, John the Divine, John of Reomay, Julian of Le Mans, Juliana of Nicomedia, Keyne, Liphardus (Lifard) of Orléans, Magnus of Füssen, Marcellus of Avignon, Marcellus (Marceau) of Paris, Margaret of Antioch, Margaret of Scotland, Martha, Michael, Paul the Apostle, Perpetua, Philip, Samson of Dol, Brittany, Simeon Stylites, Sylvester, Theodore Sratelates, Theodore Tiro, Victor of Marseille, Victoria, Virgin Mary.
Saints associated with snakes or snakebite: Dominic of Sora • Hilary of Poitiers • Magnus of Füssen • Patrick • Paul the Apostle • Pirmin • Vitus
*Know any more info? You might like to tell me at Corrigenda.
More fun for dragon hunters
The Rogation Days are a prime source of dragon legends in Britain.
Pickled dragon hoax Feast of the Dragon, China Snap the Dragon
Day of the Fire Dragons Dragon and Japan's Suwa Shrine Dragon in Slovenia
Geronimo's dragon tale Beating the dragon, England Ladon the dragon Dragon boat fest
Hindu goddess Sarasvati and dragon Dragons over London, 1222 Dragons battle, England, 1449
D.R.A.G.O.N.S. Dragons of the British Isles List of dragons European dragon
Dragon bestiary Dragon Hill Here Be Dragons! Angels, saints and fantasy links
Find an error or dead link?
Like to make a suggestion, or just say "G'day"?
Meet me at Corrigenda
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Wilgefortis (Comera; Cumerana; Dignefortis; Eutropia; Hulfe; Komina; Kummernis; Kümmernis; Liberata; Librada; Lisvrade; Livrade; Ontcommene; Ontcommer; Ontkommena; Reginfledis; Uncumber; Virgo-Fortis), daughter of the King of Portugal, made a vow of chastity. When her father tried to make her marry she prayed for deliverance and immediately grew a copious beard. Her suitors fled and her father had her crucified. Known in England as Uncumber or Liberata, she was
invoked by women who wanted to 'uncumber' themselves of suitors
or troublesome husbands.
The story and feast day of St Uncumber might derive from the stories of the Corinthian Aphrodite who grew a beard and impregnated women. Another theory is that the legend explained ancient church icons that showed a long-haired, bearded Christ crucified while wearing what appeared to be a dress. Later versions of the image assumed she was a woman, and dropped the beard. The Roman Catholic Church in the liturgical reform of 1969 removed Wilgefortis from its calendar of feast days, but your almanackist is doing his best to keep her on his.
Adonia, ancient Greece (Jul 19 - 20) Dog Days,
ancient Rome (Jul 3 - Aug 11) Lucaria,
Roman Empire
(Jul 19
- 21) Yamaguchi Gion Matsuri, Japan (Jul 20 -
27)
Fiesta at Monastery of Profitis Ilias, Cycladic island of Thera or Santorini A great annual religious fiesta when all visitors are invited to join the islanders in a meal of a traditional dried pea and onion soup, followed by dancing of the traditional Syrto and Repati folk dances. In 1628 BCE there was a huge volcanic eruption on Santorini that was estimated to have had three times the force of the 1883 Krakatoa explosion. (Krakatoa was heard over 7.5 per cent of the world's surface.) Some authorities believe the Santorini explosion might have given rise to the Atlantis legend.
Feast day of St Ansegisus Feast day of St Aurelius Feast day of St Barhadbesciabas Feast day of St Elias Feast day of St Flavian Feast day of St Gregory Lopez Feast day of St John of Pulsano Feast day of St Joseph
Barsabas (Joseph Justus) Feast day of St Paul of Saint Zoilus Feast day of St Sabinus Feast day of St Severa
Perun's Day,
Ukraine From Wikipedia: In Slavic mythology, Perun (also Parom [in Slovak, sometimes]) is the highest god of the pantheon and the god of thunder and lightning. His other attributes were the mountain, oak, eagle, firmament (in Indo-European languages this was joined with the notion of the sky of stone), horses and carts, weapons (the hammer, axe and arrow), war, and fire. He was first associated with weapons made of stone and later with those of metal.
A bull was also sacrificed and it was eaten
as a communal meal.
During the Grand Festival several dozen blind female
shamans (itako) act as the mediums of communication with the
other side, clicking their strings of beads as they enter a
trancelike state and convey messages from the spirits to grieving
relatives. More Yasaka Jinja Festival, Yasaka
Shrine, Shimane
Prefecture, Japan (Jul 20, 24, 27) Nagasaki Peiron Senshukan,
Matsugae International Pier, Nagasaki City, Nagasaki Prefecture,
Japan, (Jul 20 - 21) Uchiwa Matsuri, Yasaka Shrine,
Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture, Japan (Jul 20 - 22) Gion Matsuri, Kyoto, Japan (all of July) Peace and Freedom Day, Northern CyprusMarine Day, Japan (Umi-no-hi, currently it falls on the third Monday in July) Día del Amigo, Argentina (Friendship Day) Friendship Day, Brazil
On which day of the week were you born? Find out here 1304
Petrarch
(Francesco Petrarca; d. July 19, 1374),
scholar,
poet,
and humanist,
who is credited with having given the Renaissance
its name. He
was crowned poet laureate in Rome on April 8, 1341. 1847 Max Liebermann (d. 1935), painter and graphic artist 1873 Alberto Santos-Dumont (d. July 23, 1932), important early pioneer of aviation. Although he was born, grew up, and died in Brazil, his contributions to aviation were made while he was living in France. From Wikipedia: Santos-Dumont described himself as the first "sportsman of the air." He designed, built, and flew a variety of balloons before developing the first practical dirigible balloons (i.e. airships.) In addition, he made the first fully public flight of an airplane, in Paris in October of 1906 (In comparison, the secretive Wright brothers did not make any public flights until 1908.) That aircraft, designated 14 Bis or Oiseau de proie (French for "bird of prey"), is considered by many to be the first to take off, fly, and land without the use of catapults, high winds, or other external assistance. Thus, Brazilians, as well as many other admirers of Santos-Dumont, consider him to be the "Father of Aviation" as well as the inventor of the airplane. (Much controversy persists around the many competing claims of early aviators. See first flying machine for more discussion.) 1889 Sir John Reith, influential BBC
head 1890 Theda
Bara (Theodosia Burr Goodman; d. 1955), American silent movie actress 1894 Errett Cord, automobile entrepreneur 1895 László Moholy-Nagy (d. 1946), painter, photographer, sculptor 1915 Mary Martin (d. January 25, 1973), Australian bookseller; business partner of bookseller and publisher Max Harris (1921 - '95)
1920 Elliot Richardson (d. 1999), American politician 1925 Jacques Delors, former President of the
European Commission 1925 Frantz Fanon,
Martinique-born Algerian psychiatrist, author (The Wretched of the Earth; Black Skin,
White Masks)
and revolutionist who scorned non-violence 1928 Pavel Kohout, writer 1929 Hazel Hawke, Australian who has worked in social policy areas; former wife of Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke 1932 Otto
Schily, politician 1933 Cormac McCarthy, author 1934 Uwe
Johnson, writer 1936 Elizabeth Dole, American politician 1938 Natalie Wood (d. 1981), actress: From Here to Eternity, Rebel Without a Cause, West Side Story 1938 Dame Diana Rigg, |
Feast day of St 
Osorezan Taisai, Bodai-ji Temple, 
