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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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Carpe diem! (Seize the day!)

Pip Wilson

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Carpe diem! 25 Yesterday | Tomorrow | Search Open links in a New Window

Today is

Don't you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? … Has it ever occurred to you, Winston, that by the year 2050, at the very latest, not a single human being will be alive who could understand such a conversation as we are having now? … The whole climate of thought will be different. In fact, there will be no thought, as we understand it now. Orthodoxy means not thinking – not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness.
George Orwell, British novelist born on June 25, 1903; 1984

He gazed up at the enormous face. Forty years it had taken him to learn what kind of smile was hidden beneath the dark moustache. O cruel, needless misunderstanding! O stubborn, self-willed exile from the loving breast! Two gin-scented tears trickled down the sides of his nose. But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother.
George Orwell; ibid

It was curious to think that the sky was the same for everybody, in Eurasia or Eastasia as well as here. And the people under the sky were also very much the same – everywhere, all over the world, hundreds or thousands of millions of people just like this, people ignorant of one another's existence, held apart by walls of hatred and lies, and yet almost exactly the same—people who had never learned to think but were storing up in their hearts and bellies and muscles the power that would one day overturn the world.
George Orwell; ibid

'Do anything to me!' he yelled. 'You've been starving me for weeks. Finish it off and let me die. Shoot me. Hang me. Sentence me to twenty-five years. Is there somebody else you want me to give away? Just say who it is and I'll tell you anything you want. I don't care who it is or what you do to them. I've got a wife and three children. The biggest of them isn't six years old. You can take the whole lot of them and cut their throats in front of my eyes, and I'll stand by and watch it. But not room 101!'
George Orwell; ibid

All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.
George Orwell; Animal Farm

Political language ... is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.
George Orwell

He who controls the past controls the future, who controls the present controls the past.
George Orwell

No one can look back on his schooldays and say with truth that they were altogether unhappy.
George Orwell

No doubt alcohol, tobacco, and so forth, are things that a saint must avoid, but sainthood is also a thing that human beings must avoid ... Many people genuinely do not wish to be saints, and it is probable that some who achieve or aspire to sainthood have never felt much temptation to be human beings.
George Orwell, 1950

One must choose between God and Man, and all 'radicals' and 'progressives', from the mildest liberal to the most extreme anarchist, have in effect chosen Man.
George Orwell

As with the Christian religion, the worst advertisement for Socialism is its adherents.
George Orwell 

One defeats a fanatic precisely by not being a fanatic oneself, but on the contrary by using one's intelligence.
George Orwell 

If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.
George Orwell 

Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.
George Orwell

Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
George Orwell

But they cried out, "Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar!" Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus and led Him away.
John 19:15 - 16. Today is the Feast day of Pontius Pilate.

I never see what has been done; I only see what remains to be done.
Marie Curie, Polish scientist, who announced the discovery of radium on June 25, 1903

Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.
Marie Curie

June 25 is the 176^th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (177^th in leap years), with 189 days remaining.
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Feast Day of Pontius Pilate (Coptic Church)

In the Coptic Christian Church, Pontius Pilate, who judged Jesus Christ, is revered as a martyr. There is a tradition that Pilate and his wife Claudia Procula became penitent after the crucifixion.

Pontius Pilate (Latin: Pontius Pilatus) was the governor of the small Roman province of Judea from 26 until 36? CE, although Tacitus believed him to be the procurator of that province. According to the Christian Gospels, he presided at the trial of Jesus and gave the order for his crucifixion. His biographical details before and after his appointment to Judea are unknown, but have been supplied by legend.

Coptic Search Engine    Pilate inscription    The trial of Jesus Christ, in Crime Library    Coptic Calendar    More

 

Folklore, customs, pre-Christian origins of: 

Epiphany  Candlemas/Imbolc  Hall Sunday  Collop Monday  Shrove Tuesday/Pancake Day

  Ash Wednesday & Lent  Mid-Lent  Care Sunday  Painful Friday  Lazarus Saturday

  Palm Sunday  Spy Wednesday  Maundy Thursday  Good Friday  Easter Saturday  Easter

Easter Monday  Easter Tuesday  Hocktide  Ascension  Rogation Days  Whitsunday/Whitsuntide

Corpus Christi  May Day/Beltaine  Lammas/Lughnasadh  Michaelmas  Halloween/Samhain

Martinmas  Advent  Christmas Eve  Christmas  More at Articles Index

Hundreds of feast days of saints, gods and goddesses at Wilson's Almanac Book of Days

 

 

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Click stars for Universe today Cafe Diem! Our store Highly recommended: Folklore of World Holidays by Margaret Read MacDonald The Elements of Ritual The Oxford Book of Days The Ancient British Goddess Myths and Legends of the British Isles Why Orwell Matters By Christopher Hitchens Animal Farm Nineteen Eighty-Four Down and Out in Paris and London Holiday Symbols Holidays and Anniversaries of the World Secrets and Lies   To support this project Search by keywords for books, music, computers, software, home and family products and much more.     Search for posters What Would Jefferson Do? By Thom Hartmann When Corporations Rule the World Outfoxed - Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism The Corporation Highly recommended DVD Shaking the Foundations: 200 Years of Investigative Journalism in America By Bruce Shapiro Shaking the Foundations: 200 Years of Investigative Journalism in America By Bruce Shapiro Crimes Against Nature : How George W Bush and His Corporate Pals Are Plundering the Country and Hijacking Our Democracy By Robert F Kennedy, Jr The Skeptic's Dictionary The Daily Planet A Dictionary of Saints Days, Fasts, Feasts and Festivals Hegemony or Survival Come September By Arundhati Roy Confessions of an Economic Hit Man Women's Activism and Globalization The Atlas of Holy Places and Sacred Sites The Celtic Circle Various Artists Kindling the Celtic Spirit Celtic Prayers from Iona Celtic Folklore Cooking Aborigine Dreaming Rough Guide: Australian Aboriginal Music The Songlines Arnhem Land Didjeridoo Wise Women of the Dreamtime Permaculture The Clash of Civilizations Imperial Crusades The Spiritual Traveler The Last Alchemist: Count Cagliostro Sun Goddess The Da Vinci Code Daily Everything A Treasury of Irish Myth, Legend, and Folklore Architects of Peace The Secret Language of Birthdays Live with Passion! Anthony Robbins More books, calendars, T-shirts, mugs, music, posters, etc at   Cafe Diem!   The Beatles Come to America Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band The Beatles Anthology The Beatles 1 Anthology 1 Anthology 2 Anthology 3 Imagine The John Lennon Collection Lennon Legend Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Anthology All We Are Saying Lennon Legend The Beatles Anthology Lennon Real Love The John Lennon Encyclopedia All We Are Saying Lennon's last interview John Lennon in His Own Write Lennon Remembers The Playboy Interviews Celtic Daily Prayer Social Anarchism or Lifestyle Anarchism Murray Bookchin Poor Richard's Almanack By Benjamin Franklin Photo of the day Mother Earth Spirituality Wheel of the Year Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft The Survival of the Pagan Gods

Fourth Friday of June, Fink Day, Fink, Texas, USA "FINK, TEXAS (Grayson County). Fink is a farming community just off Farm Road 120 twelve miles northeast of Sherman in north central Grayson County. The community began to form in the late 1850s when farm families from Mississippi settled in the area. The settlement was named for Fred Fink, a member of this group. No established community center developed there until the late 1860s or early 1870s, when W. J. Bilderback opened a general store. From 1897 to 1903 the settlement had postal service. The community's population has never exceeded fifty; in 1936 it was estimated at fifteen. Fink's population was estimated at twenty-five for most of the period from the mid-1940s to the mid-1970s, after which no figures were available. The community is labeled on the 1984 county highway map, but no buildings are shown at the site. The Sixty-sixth Texas Legislature designated every fourth Friday in June as Fink Day in Texas, in recognition of the 'National Fink Week' celebration held by Finks, during which the roads to Fink 'are overflowing with Finks and Fink well-wishers.' The event has drawn national attention."   Source [And I dips me lid to Leon, Margaret, Ben and Johnny F!] Feast day of St Adalbert of Egmond Feast day of St Amandus of Coly Feast day of St Dominic Henares Feast day of St Eurosia Feast day of St Febronia Feast day of St Gallicanus Feast day of St Gallicanus Feast day of St Gohardus Feast day of St Guy Maramaldi Feast day of St Henry Zdick Feast day of St John the Spaniard Feast day of St Maximus of Turin Feast day of St Moloc Feast day of St Molonachus Feast day of St Prosper Feast day of St Selyf Feast day of St William of Vercelli (Sweet Williams, Dianthus barbatus, is today's plant, dedicated to this saint.) A hermit of Piedmont, 12th Century, he built a cell at Monte Vergine (Montevergiliano), and founded several monasteries. Died 1142. "Legend says that William began mining the stone and digging the foundations for the church on Montevergine when his only companion and helper was a single donkey. One evening, a wolf charge from the forest, killed and ate the donkey. William ordered the wolf to take the donkey's place. The wolf, understanding that he had interrupted God's work, bowed his head, and began hauling the loads of stone. Tradition says that the same wolf still prowls the mountain, ready to help those who are in danger and call upon the name of the Virgin Mary."   Source Click for Eastern Orthodox liturgical days    Shop saints Niman Kachina, Hopi Pueblo (Jun 19 - 29) The bonfires of San Juan, Alicante, Spain (Jun 20 - 28) Fiesta of Santa Orosia, Spain Pilgrims in folk costume carry St Orosia's skull to her shrine. The towns of Jaca and Yebra de Basa in particular celebrate this festival. Festival of San Juan, Coria, Spain (Jun 23 - 27) The San Juan or Mother of God Festivals, Soria, Spain (Jun 23 - 27) Inti Raymi, Incan Winter Solstice Festival of the Sun, Sacsayhuaman, Cuzco, Peru (Jun 24 - Jul 2) June - July, Tabarka, Tunisia, Jazz Festival "The town of Tabarka comes to life to the sounds of jazz from around the world. Local and national musicians perform to provide some real fusion flavour, and jazz enthusiasts can take part in seminars and workshops. With the July climate guaranteeing perfect weather, you can enjoy music in the midst of your summer holiday."   Source   Gotanshin-sai /O-chinowa Kuguri, Kitano Tenmangu Shrine, Japan "Gotanjoshin-sai commemorates the birth of Sugawara-no-Michizane, who was born on June 25 about 1,000 years ago and later enshrined here. "O-chinowa kuguri: Each year, a huge circle of reeds, 5 metres in diameter, is placed in the entrance to the temple, at the 2-storied gate. Stepping through the circle (chinowa) is said to give the believer protection from illness. This is the largest chinowa in Kyoto. "Vendors set up festival stalls in and around the shrine precincts, which are crowded with visitors throughout the day."  Source Statehood day, Slovenia and Croatia National Catfish Day, USA Independence Day, Mozambique Antichristmas, celebrated by some Satanists       On which day of the week were you born? Find out here 1852 Antoni Gaudi (Antoni Gaudí i Cornet; d. June 10, 1926), Catalan architect and Catalan nationalist famous for his unique designs expressing sculptural and individualistic qualities 1858 Georges Courteline (d. 1929), dramatist 1864 Walther Nernst (d. 1941), physicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in chemistry 1920 1884 Henry Kahnweiler (d. 1979), Montparnasse art promoter 1887 George Abbott (d. 1995), playwright, screenwriter, producer, director, actor 1894 Hermann Oberth (d. 1989), physicist 1900 Louis Mountbatten (d. 1979), First Earl Mountbatten of Burma, Viscount Mountbatten of Burma, Baron Romsey, British admiral and colonial administrator 1903 George Orwell (pen-name of Eric Blair; d. January 21, 1950), Indian-born British author (Animal Farm; Nineteen Eighty-Four; Down and Out in Paris and London). From Wikipedia: Nineteen Eighty-Four describes a totalitarian dystopia so vividly that the adjective 'Orwellian' is now commonly used to describe totalitarian mechanisms of thought-control. Soon after the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, Orwell volunteered to fight for the Republicans against Franco's Nationalist uprising. As a sympathiser of the Independent Labour Party (of which he became a member in 1938), he joined the militia of its sister party in Spain, the anti-Stalinist far-left POUM (Workers' Party of Marxist Unification), in which he fought as an infantryman. In Homage to Catalonia he described his admiration for the apparent absence of a class structure in the revolutionary areas of Spain he visited. He also depicted what he saw as the betrayal of that workers' revolution in Spain by the Spanish Communist Party, abetted by the Soviet Union and its secret police, after its militia attacked the anarchists and the POUM in Barcelona in May 1937. Orwell was shot in the neck (near Huesca) on May 20, 1937, an experience he described in his short essay 'Wounded by a Fascist Sniper', as well as in Homage to Catalonia. He and his wife Eileen left Spain after narrowly missing being arrested as 'Trotskyites' when the communists moved to suppress the POUM in June 1937. Orwell coined the term Cold War. In an essay titled 'You and the Atomic Bomb' on October 19, 1945, he wrote: "We may be heading not for general breakdown but for an epoch as horribly stable as the slave empires of antiquity. James Burnham's theory has been much discussed, but few people have yet considered its ideological implications – this is, the kind of world-view, the kind of beliefs, and the social structure that would probably prevail in a State which was once unconquerable and in a permanent state of 'cold war' with its neighbours." 1909 Daniel Fuchs, Oscar-winning screen writer (Love Me or Leave Me) 1915 Peter Lind Hayes (d. 1998), actor 1924 Sidney Lumet, Hollywood director Mini-biography at IMDB 1925 June Lockhart, actress (Lassie's on-screen 'mother') 1926 Ingeborg Bachmann (d. 1973), lyricist, narrator and writer 1928 Peyo (Pierre Culliford; d.  December 24, 1992) Belgian cartoonist, perhaps best known for the creation of The Smurfs comic strip 1932 Peter Blake, artist 1933 James Meredith (d. June 6, 1966), US civil rights activist who was shot dead while trying to march solo across the State of Mississippi. 1945 Carly Simon, US singer/songwriter ('You're So Vain'; 'Nobody Does It Better') 1950 Tim Finn, New Zealand-born singer/songwriter, founder-member of rock group Split Enz, which enjoyed great success in Australia and NZ 1956 Boris Trajkovski (d. 2004), president of the Republic of Macedonia 1961 Ricky Gervais, Emmy-, Golden Globe- and BAFTA-award-winning English comic writer and performer, best known for the British sitcoms The Office and Extras, which he co-wrote and co-directed with friend and collaborator, Stephen Merchant; Gervais starred in both shows. Gervais hosted the world number-one ranked podcast, The Ricky Gervais Show. He was also the first guest star on The Simpsons to have received a writing credit for the episode in which he starred. Ricky Gervais website 1963 George Michael, English singer 1974 Karisma Kapoor, Indian actress 1975 Vladimir Kramnik, Russian chess player   Phew!! Have a rest before the big This day in history section Send a free e-card greeting for today's celebrations to a loved one Do you forget birthdays and anniversaries? Schedule your cards to be sent during the coming year. Zodiac birthday Free astrology e-cards Love ecards Birthdays Strawberry Parfait Day [ Jun 25 ] Endangered Species Varies Full Moon Day Varies Friday the 13th Varies Hindu holidays Varies Dragon Boat Festival (China) Varies Graduation June 21 Summer Solstice 23 Typewriter Day 24 Flying Saucer Day 24 Swim Day 24 Blueberry Festival ((New Jersey, USA) 24 Feast Of John The Baptist 25 Strawberry Parfait Day 25 Leon Day 26 Chocolate Pudding Day 26 Beauticians' Day 27 Sunglasses Day 28 Treaty Day 29 Remote Control Day 30 Sky Day 30 Meteorite Day July 1 Canada Day 1 International Joke Day 2 I Forgot Day 2 Mullet Day 2 Violin Lovers' Day 3 Chocolate Wafer Day 3 Eat Beans Day 3 Air Conditioning Day 4 Fourth of July (USA) 4 Barbecue Day 4 Country Music Day 5 Workaholics Day 7 Chocolate Day 7 Macaroni Day 7 Tanabata 7 Father And Daughter Take A Walk Together 8 Ice Cream Sundae Day 8 Be A Kid Day 8 Milk Chocolate With Almonds Day 8 Don't Put All Your Eggs In One Omelette Day 9 Rock N' Roll Day 9 Sugar Cookie Day 9 Barn Day 9 Martyrdom Of The Báb   ... 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