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The prisoner: I don't think there is much proof they did die the death.

His Honour: In your case the law will be carried out by its officers. The gentlemen of the jury have done their duty, and my duty will be to forward to the proper quarter the notes of your trial, and to lay before the Executive all the circumstances connected with your trial that may be required. I can hold out to you no hope, and I do not see that I can entertain the slightest reason for saying that you can expect anything. I desire to spare you any more pain, and I absolve myself from saying anything willingly in any of my utterances that may have unnecessarily increased the agitation of your mind. I have now to pronounce your sentence.
Judge Sir Redmond Barry, born on June 7, 1813, sums up in the trial of Australian bushranger, Ned Kelly   Source

... the fact that she dressed well and talked rather more freely and wittily than a young girl should, up to a point justified the suspicion against her. She was remanded, and afterwards acquitted, with a warning from the Pontifex Maximus, in the name of the college of priests, to stop making jokes and to dress in future with more regard to sanctity and less to elegance.
Livy, Roman historian; History of Rome, referring to Postumia, a Vestal Virgin who was put on trial for a sexual offence she had not committed

As freely as St Robert gave his cow.
English traditional expression [Presumably it refers to this English St Robert]

If people want to think I get drunk and stay out all night, let 'em. That's how I got here, you know.
Dean Martin, American actor, born on June 7, 1917

I've got seven kids. The three words you hear most around my house are "hello", "goodbye", and "I'm pregnant".
Dean Martin

I know it's the gentlemanly thing to let the wife file. But, then, everybody knows I'm no gentleman.
Dean Martin

I drink because my body craves, needs alcohol. I don't drink, my body's a drunk.
Dean Martin

People ask me if Dean drinks any more. I'll tell you this: He doesn't drink any less.
Dom DeLuise on Dean Martin

June 7 is the 158^th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (159^th in leap years), with 207 days remaining.
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The Dunmow Flitch

Ancient custom of marital bliss

This quaint ancient ceremony is an annual event in Little Dunmow, Essex, England. The custom died out in 1772 but has been revived at various times.

A married couple would present themselves to town authorities for the trials; if they could prove that they had lived for twelve months without ever wishing, either awake or asleep, that they weren't married, they would receive a gammon or flitch of bacon – half a pig, also known as a side of bacon. Or, as the British clergyman and antiquary, John Brand (1744 - 1806), put it in his classic Observations on the popular antiquities of Great Britain: Including the Whole of Mr. Bourne's 'Antiquitates Vulgares' (1777):

A custom formerly prevailed, and has indeed been recently observed at Dunmow, in Essex of giving a flitch of bacon to any married couple who would swear that neither of them, in a year and a day, either sleeping or waking, repented of their marriage.

The actual words of the ancient rite, performed before a 'judge' in a mock court and a 'jury' of maidens and bachelors, require that in "twelvemonth and a day" both spouses have "not wish't themselves unmarried again".

The full pledge went:

You shall swear by custom of confession,
If ever you made nuptial trangresssion,
Be you either married man or wife,
If you have brawls or contentious strife
Or otherwise, at bed or at board,
Offended each other in deed or word:
Or, since the parish-clerk said Amen,
You wish't yourselves unmarried agen,
Or in a twelvemonth and a day,
Repented not in thought any way,
But continued true in thought and desire
As when you join'd hands in the quire.
If to these conditions, without all feare,
Of your own accord you will freely swear,
A whole gammon of bacon you shall receive,
And bear it hence with love and good leave;
For this is our custom at Dunmow well knowne,
Though the pleasure be ours, the bacon's your own.

The parties were to make their oath before the Prior and Convent and the whole town, humbly kneeling in the churchyard upon two hard, pointed stones. The ancient oath is still sworn today:

We do swear by custom of confession
That we ne'er made nuptial transgression,
Not since we were married man and wife,
By household brawles or contentious strife,
Or otherwise in bed or a boarde,
Offended each other in deed or in word,
Or in a twelve months and a day
Repented not in thought in any way.
Or since the church clerke said Amen
Wish't yourselves unmarried agen,
But continue true and in desire,
As when you joyn'd hands in Holy Quire.

The successful husband was called the 'pilgrim', and with his wife was lifted up in a chair on men's shoulders, and carried about the churchyard and through the village, with the bacon carried in procession before him, attended by the parishioners and other spectators who followed flitch and spouses with great carousing and noise. Still today, the old carved oak chair in which the successful couple were lifted remains, preserved in the priory church.

When did it begin?

Literary references to 'The Dunmow Trials' go back to medieval times and were first recorded in 1340 by Chaucer in 'The Wife of Bath' in his Canterbury Tales. The poem of 'Piers Plowman', half a century before Chaucer, mentions the custom in a manner that implies a general knowledge of it among his readers.

The custom might be much older, as it has been said that it started with the Lord of the Manor of Little Dunmow, Robert Fitzwalter, a favourite of King John, December 24, 1166/67 - October 18/19, 1216 (Knowlson¹ says it was his successor, Henry III). It is said that Robert (or Reginald, depending on source) Fitzwalter and his wife dressed themselves as humble folk and went to the priory to ask the blessing of the prior a year after their marriage. Their devotion so impressed the prior that he gave them a flitch of bacon. The Fitzwalters then revealed their identity and Bob/Reggie gave his lands to the priory on one small condition: a side of bacon must be given in perpetuity to any couple who could claim they were similarly devoted. It's a nice tale, but we have no evidence of its authenticity ...

It’s uncertain on which day it was always held, but we know that in 1701 it was held on June 7 (this source gave June 12). www.dunmowflitchtrials.co.uk/ shows varying dates.

Read on at the Dunmow Flitch page at the Scriptorium

Feast day of Vestalia (penus vestae), Roman Empire (Jun 7 - 15)

The day of Vesta Aperit – the opening of the Temple of Vesta (pictured) in Rome, and a women's feast of the six Vestal Virgins. Only women were allowed in this temple which was shaped like the huts of early Rome. Letting the fire die out was a serious offence, and punished by execution. The fire was rekindled in this case by "the rays of the sun". The exact method is unclear.

The Virgins today drew holy water from a sacred spring and gathered grain to prepare holy cakes, the salty 'mola salsa', which were offered with prayers and hymns. Libations of wine were drunk and poured on the ground and altars. Donkeys, the familiar creature of the goddess, were garlanded with wreaths and cakes, as a blessing to millers and bakers.

"The college of the Vestals consisted of six (in very late times of seven) priestesses, among whom there were probably always some who were still children. At the time of their admission into the college the Vestals were never younger than six, nor older than ten years of age. The pontifex maximus appointed them subject to the consent of their parents: they were compelled to endure for thirty years the strict convent life of the Atrium Vestae, to perform the wearisome service of guarding the sacred fire and fetching the holy water from the spring of the Camenae outside the Porta Capena (on the Via Appia), and to carry out oftentimes extremely complicated ritualistic acts in connection with many sacrifices and ceremonies. The penalties for the neglect of duty were very heavy: a Vestal who permitted the sacred fire to go out was beaten with rods by the pontifex maximus; if she had offended against the command of chastity, she was buried alive in the campus sceleratus near the Porta Collina (not far from the northern corner of the Ministry of Finance in the Via Venti Steembre). The service was so severe that in the course of time it became steadily more difficult to find the necessary candidates for the six positions – or more properly speaking, parents who offered their children for the task. The conditions of eligibility were accordingly made more and more easy: for example in the old days it is probable that only the daughters of patricians were allowed to serve Vesta, but in later times maidens from plebeian families were admitted, and finally under Augustus even the daughters of freedmen were declared eligible. At their reception they often received from the emperor a very considerable dowry: for example even the frugal Tiberius gave the Vestal Cornelia two million sesterces (500,000 fr.). The Vestals were not, like all other women, under the tutelage of the head of the family; instead they were allowed to govern their own property independently, to give testimony in court without the customary oath, etc.; their recommendation had great weight in the civil as well as in the military career; if they accidentally met a criminal being conveyed to his punishment, he was immediately pardoned; they had places of honour at the public games; when they went out into the city they were preceded by a lictor, before whom even the Consul gave way; they enjoyed the privilege, otherwise confined to the empresses, of driving inside the city limits; any injury to their person was punishable by death. –In spite of all this, it was extremely difficult in later times, as the church fathers are fond of telling us, to find the few maidens necessary for the service of Vesta, while the Christian cloisters were filled with consecrated virgins. In A.D. 382, Gratianus appropriated the property of the Vestals; the house was then used as a residence first for the imperial and later for the papal officials. After the eleventh century it was abandoned."
Christian Hülsen, The Roman Forum – Its History and Its Monuments; XXXIII. 'The House of the Vestals', Ermanno Loescher & Co, Publishers to H. M. the Queen of Italy, 1906

 

Temple of Vesta and house of the Vestals

"The House of the Vestal Virgins, (Atrium Vestae), was the residence of the Vestal Virgins, the high priestesses of the cult of Vesta. The cult of Vesta is very ancient, and the Vestal Virgins had their residence in the same location from the 6th century BCE to the end of the 4th century CE. It is located on the Forum Romanum, just behind the Temple of Vesta, between the Regia and the Palatine Hill.

"The oldest building on the area was much smaller than the present ruins. It was aligned on a E.-W. axis and formed a single complex with the Temple of Vesta, the Regia and the Domus Publica, which encompassed all the religious duties of the king and his family. It is likely that the wife and daughters of the king administered the cult of Vesta in this period. When the king was expelled from Rome a group of young patrician women were appointed to the cult of Vesta.

"The first known house of the vestals was a simple building at the foot of the Palatine Hill. It was within an enclosure that also included the Temple of Vesta, and it consisted of front room in the full width of the house on the N. side towards the temple, and six separate rooms in the back. It is tempting to assume that the rooms are for the six vestals, and hence the house is from after the expulsion of the king."   Source

Claudia Quinta, a vestal virgin, and the goddess Cybele, in the 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 Rule of Four Hypnerotomachia Poliphili Leon Battista Alberti's Hypnerotomachia True History of the Kelly Gang Ned Kelly Ned Kelly Ned Kelly Ned Kelly Ned Kelly and the City of Bees An Illustrated History of Australian Bushrangers Australian Bushrangers Worse Than Watergate John Dean 8 Weeks to Optimum Health Eats, Shoots & Leaves Plan of Attack   To support this project Search by keywords for books, music, computers, software, home and family products and much more.     Search for posters The Case Against Wal-Mart Methods of Nonviolent Action The Torture Debate in America You Can Prevent Global Warming (and Save Money) Pagan Christianity Waging Nonviolent Struggle An Inconvenient Truth Al Gore The God Who Wasn't There When Corporations Rule the World A Question of Torture By Alfred McCoy The Corporation Highly recommended DVD The Weather Makers Tim Flannery 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 Shaking the Foundations: 200 Years of Investigative Journalism in America By Bruce Shapiro A Dictionary of Saints Days, Fasts, Feasts and Festivals Fraud Salam Pax The Baghdad Blogger Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror D'aulaire's Book of Greek Myths Wheel of the Year The Trouble with Islam Seeds of Deception Gaian Democracies Cutting Your Car Use Activists Beyond Borders The Da Vinci Code Taj Mahal Lovers' Story The Taj Mahal Daily Everything Heroes, Gods and Monsters of the Greek Myths The Dalai Lama's Book of Wisdom Drawing Down the Moon Globalization/Anti-Globalization More books, calendars, T-shirts, mugs, music, posters, etc at   Cafe Diem! Celtic Daily Prayer Dude, Where's My Country? Photo of the day Mother Earth Spirituality Rich Media, Poor Democracy Robert McChesney

Rusalka Week begins, Bulgaria In Slavic mythology, a rusalka (plural: rusalki) was a female ghost, water nymph, succubus or mermaid-like demon that dwelled in a waterway (see also Sacred Wells and Springs). To the Bulgarians, the week following Trinity (June 6 in 2004 – see Easter calculator) was Rusalka Nedela or Rusalka Week. The Rusalki arrived on Monday, bringing with them Rusalka Sickness, apparently a kind of lovesickness. Spinning and weaving were forbidden the womenfolk, as were sleeping during the day or hair washing, especially on Monday and Wednesday. Women wore garlic and walnut leaves for protection. During the week, girls made bouquets for the men and a circle dance was held. Men called Koluchari sang to cure the love-sick, following which they broke ceramic pots to break the spell.     Egyptian day (dies egypticus, dies ægypticus or dies mala), unlucky day in Medieval Europe. ("But, notwithstanding, I will trust the Lord" was the associated saying.) Nones of June, ancient Rome Feast day of St Paul Anne of Saint Bartholomew Feast day of St Paul Anthony Mary Gianelli Feast day of St Colman, Bishop of Dromore, confessor Feast day of St Paul Deochar Feast day of St Gotteschalk (Gottschalk; Godeschale), Prince of the Western Vandals, and his companions, martyrs Feast day of St Paul Habentius Feast day of St Paul Meriadoc (Meriadec), Bishop of Vannes, confessor Feast day of St Paul Landulf of Yariglia Feast day of St Paul Lycarion Feast day of St Paul Odo of Massay Feast day of St Paul, Bishop of Constantinople and martyr (Red centaury, Chironia centaureum, is today's plant, dedicated to this saint.) Feast day of St Paul Feast day of St Paul Peter Feast day of St Robert, Abbot of Newminster Feast day of St Paul Vulphy Click for Eastern Orthodox liturgical days    Shop saints Shirane Takogassen, or Kite-fighting Event, at Shirane, Niigata Prefecture, Japan (June 5 - 12) Commemoration of June 7, 1919, public holiday, Malta Foundation Day, Western Australia Commemorates the 1838 creation of the colony. Boone Day, observed by Kentucky (USA) Historical Society Commemorates the day, June 7, 1769, when frontiersman Daniel Boone first saw the forests and woodlands of present-day Kentucky. Observed annually by the Kentucky Historical Society. E-cards Universal Peace Mission Movement's joyous commemoration of judge's death "The most famous events in the life of Father Divine, the ones that catapulted him into the public spotlight, began on November 13, 1931. On that day, responding to neighborhood complaints about traffic congestion around his home, police arrested Father Divine for disturbing the peace. Viewing the incident as racially inspired, he refused bail, pleaded not guilty, and was tried and convicted. The jury asked for leniency. The judge ignored them and handed down a sentence of a year in jail and ordered him to pay a $500 fine. Father Divine went to jail. Two days later the judge, apparently a healthy man, died, and Father Divine freely offered his opinion that the death was not the result of natural causes. One follower is to have remarked on the day of sentencing, 'The judge can't live long now. He's offended Almighty God.' From his cell, Father Divine remarked simply, 'I hated to do it!' (Since that date, the Peace Mission commemorates June 7, the day of the Judge's death, by publishing accounts of disasters that befell people whose activities conflicted with Father Divine's program)."   Source Union Dissolution Day, Norway Observing the 1905 decision to dissolve the Union between Sweden and Norway. Sette Giugno, Malta commemorates the riot in Malta that began the road to self government and then independence.       On which day of the week were you born? Find out here 1491 Jacques Cartier (d. 1557), explorer 1761 John Rennie (d. 1821), engineer 1778 Beau Brummel, fashion leader 1811 James Simpson (d. 1870), obstetrician (used chloroform)   1813 Sir Redmond Barry (d. November 23, 1880), British colonial judge in Australia Sir Redmond and Ned Kelly's curse Sir Redmond Barry was a prominent judge in colonial Australia. While en route to Australia, Barrie was kept locked in his cabin by the ship's captain because of an alleged immoral liaison the legal man had on board with one of the female passengers. Barrie was one of the driving forces behind the establishment of several of Sydney's important cultural institutions, including the Art Gallery and the Public Library. He was the judge presiding over the murder trial of Ned Kelly (he had tried him before on lesser charges), and handed down Australia's most famous bushranger's death sentence.  Before being led off, the fatal words still ringing in his ears, Kelly launched a tirade at Sir Redmond. "And I will see you there (in hell)!" the bushranger cried. Twelve days later, the judge died.   Gang leader Kelly was captured at Glenrowan at dawn on June 28, 1880, sentenced to death by Sir Redmond Barry on October 29, and hanged in Melbourne on November 11, 1880 (qv). More  Ned Kelly    Kelly Gang   Kelly Gang chronology   More    More    And more   Yet more   1831 Amelia Edwards, English author and Egyptologist 1848 Paul Gauguin (d. May 8, 1903) , French post-Impressionist painter 1868 Charles Rennie Mackintosh (d. 1928), architect, designer and illustrator 1879 Knut Rasmussen (d. 1933), explorer 1883 Sylvanus Morley (d. 1948), American archaeologist, epigrapher, Mayanist scholar and spy with the USA Office of Naval Intelligence 1886 Henri Coanda (d. 1972), aerodynamics pioneer 1896 Imre Nagy (executed June 16, 1958), Prime Minister of Hungary on two occasions 1909 Jessica Tandy (d. September 11, 1994), Academy Award-winning British-born American stage and film actress, the oldest person (80) to win an Oscar (for Driving Miss Daisy, 1989). She subsequently earned a Supporting Actress nomination for her work in the grass-roots hit Fried Green Tomatoes (1991),  She also was in Hitchcock's The Birds. 1917 Dean Martin, American actor/singer who was straight man to funny man Jerry Lewis in more than a dozen comedy movies. Before fame he was a a prize-fighter, steel mill labourer, gas station attendant and card shark. Movies such as The Young Lions (1958) and Rio Bravo (1959) brought 'Dino' international fame. One of Martin's best remembered films is the 1960 smash Ocean's Eleven, in which he played Sam Harmon alongside the other members of the legendary Rat Pack: Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr, Joey Bishop, and Peter Lawford. 1917 Gwendolyn Brooks, poet 1920 Georges Marchais (d. 1997), politician 1928 James Ivory, producer 1929 John Turner, seventeenth Prime Minister of Canada 1931 Malcolm Morley, painter 1931 Virginia McKenna, actress (Born Free; Carve Her Name with Pride) 1937 Claus Peymann, theatre director 1940 Tom Jones (Born Thomas Woodward), Welsh singer whose many hits include It's Not Unusual and What's New Pussycat? 1943 Nikki Giovanni, poet 1945 Wolfgang Schüssel, Austrian Bundeskanzler since 2000 1946 Bill Kreutzmann of The Grateful Dead 1952 Liam Neeson, actor (Schindler's List; Rob Roy) 1954 Louise Erdrich, author 1958 Prince (born Prince Rogers Nelson), American singer and musician   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 Spirituality Birthdays Best Friends Day [ Jun 8 ] Summer Varies Full Moon Day Varies Friday the 13th Varies Hindu holidays Varies Dragon Boat Festival (China) Varies Shavuot Varies Fathers' Day June 4 Cheese Day 5 World Environment Day 6 Applesauce Cake Day 6 D-Day Anniversary 7 Boone Day 8 Best Friends Day 8 Ice Cream Day 8 World Ocean Day 9 Cuddle Up Day 9 Profess Your Love Day 10 Iced Tea Day 10 Great Turtle Races Day 10 Strawberry Festival (West Virginia, USA) 10 Tomato Festival (Louisiana, USA) 10 Mourn For Your Money Day 10 Tomato Festival (Texas, USA) 11 Red Rose Festival 11 King Kamehameha Day (Hawaii) 12 Diary Day 13 Kitchen Klutzes Of America Day 13 Lobster Day 14 Flag Day 15 Sneak A Kiss Day 15 Smile Power Day 15 Electricity Day 15 A Friend In Need Is A Friend Indeed Day 15 Career Nursing Assistants Day 16 Morticians Day 17 International Violin Day 17 World Juggling Day 17 Sweden-America Day 17 Sandcastle Day (Oregon, USA) 17 Oyster Festival (California) 17 Hollerin' Contest (North Carolina) 17 Pepperfest (Oklahoma)   ... More Events Visit the Blogmanac, where today's Almanac is 'live' And I hope you will sign my GuestMap Your family and friends will get a kick when they hear their own name being sung in 'Happy Birthday'!! You can schedule your singing cards in advance, and even add your own face to funny animations. (Pay cards)         If you are enjoying this page, click to receive similar items daily with a free subscription to Wilson's Almanac ezine Webmaster, webmasters free content, or else articles at very reasonable rates Pip Wilson's articles are available for your website or publication, on application. Further details   1099 Siege of Jerusalem: The First Crusade reached the walls of Jerusalem. 1329 Death of Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland. 1494 Spain and Portugal signed the Treaty of Tordesillas (northern Spain) which divided the New World between the two countries. 1628 England's Petition of Right. 1631 [Sources differ as to date.] While on a campaign with her husband (Shah Jahan, Mughal Emperor of India), Mumtaz Mahal (born Arjumand Banu Begam), died. The Taj Mahal, described by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore as "a tear on the face of eternity", is often said to be one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World, and is her tomb. The grand Taj Mahal stands as a monument to the love of a man for a woman. As she lay on her deathbed, it is said that Mumtaz whispered to Jahan a dying wish for him to build a monument that would express the beauty of their love for each other. Stricken with grief, Shah Jahan remained indoors for a week; when he emerged his hair had turned white, his back was now bent, and his face lined with despair. He ordered his entire kingdom into mourning for the next two years, and it is said he was inconsolable to the point of contemplating abdication in favour of his sons. Some believe the great building was designed by Geronimo Verroneo, an Italian in service to the Mughal (Moghul) Empire, and certainly many European craftsmen were among the 20,000 workers who worked on the tomb, bringing with them Renaissance skill and vision – not that the Moghul culture was lacking in either skill or vision. Craftsmen from as far as Turkey came to join in the work ... Read on at the Mumtaz Mahal page at the Scriptorium 1654 Louis XIV was crowned King of France. 1692 Between one and three thousand people died when Port Royal, Jamaica was struck by an earthquake. "Port Royal was the capital city of Jamaica until an earthquake on June 7, 1692 largely destroyed it, causing two thirds of the city to sink into the Caribbean Sea. Port Royal's role was taken over by the city of Kingston. "Situated on the Palisadoes sandspit at the western end of Jamaica, Port Royal had gained a reputation in the 17th century as both the "richest and wickedest city in the world". It was notorious for its gaudy displays of wealth and loose morals, and was a popular place for pirates to bring and spend their treasure. During part of the 17th century the British actively encouraged and even paid Buccaneers based at Port Royal to attack Spanish and French shipping. "On June 7, 1692, a devastating earthquake hit the city, causing the sandspit on which it was built to liquefy and flow out into Kingston harbor. The effects of tsunamis caused by the earthquake further eroded the sandspit, and soon the main part of the city lay permanently underwater, though intact enough that archaeologists have managed to uncover some well-preserved sites. The earthquake and tsunami killed between 1000 and 3000 people combined, over half the city's population. "Some attempts were made to rebuild the city, starting with the one third of the city that was not submerged, but these met with mixed success and numerous disasters. An initial attempt at rebuilding was again destroyed in 1704, this time by fire. Subsequent rebuilding was hampered by several hurricanes in the first half of the 18th century, and soon Kingston eclipsed Port Royal in importance. "A final devastating earthquake on January 14, 1907 again liquefied the sandspit, destroying nearly all of the rebuilt city and submerging additional portions. While the city still exists today, its population is now less than 2000 and it has little to no commercial or political importance, though the Jamaican government has recently resolved to develop it as a historical and touristic site."   Source: Wikipedia List of earthquakes 1753 The British Museum was founded by an Act of British Parliament. More 1776 Richard Henry Lee presented the 'Lee Resolution' to the Continental Congress. See United States Declaration of Independence. 1776 American invaders skirmished with British at Trois-Rivières, Quebec. 1780 Anti-Catholic riots were staged in Britain after the parliament passed acts allowing greater tolerance of Catholics. In London, 210 people were killed. 1800 David Thompson reached the mouth of the Saskatchewan River in Manitoba. 1825 Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) became a separate colony of Australia. 1832 Asian cholera brought to Quebec Quebec by Irish immigrants killed about 6,000 people in Lower Canada. 1862 The United States and United Kingdom agreed to suppress the slave trade. 1862 Former gambler, William Bruce Mumford, who tore down a flag flying over the US Mint, became the first US citizen hanged for treason. 1863 Mexico City was captured by French troops. 1866 About 1,800 Fenian raiders were repelled back to the United States after they looted and plundered around St-Armand and Frelighsburg, Quebec. 1866 Death of Chief Seattle, Native American leader. 1905 Norway declared the union with Sweden dissolved and declared its independence. 1914 The first vessel passed through the locks of the Panama Canal. 1917 Attack on Messines Ridge during World War I, with nearly 7,000 Australian casualties. 1929 Vatican City became a sovereign state. 1935 Pierre Laval became Prime Minister of France. 1937 "The streamline train City of Denver arrived at Chicago in 1937, with a dead trout inside its shattered headlight. It was suggested that the 80mph train had struck an eagle flying across the track with a trout in its beak; but there was no mention of feathers, or blood, or any other vestiges of a bird. This was reported in the Fortean Society Magazine No 2 in October 1937. Awake! (8 Oct 1987) tells of a Boeing 737 out of Alaska's Juneau airport which hit a salmon n mid-air. Again an eagle was introduced to explain the bizarre collision."   Fortean Times 1938 The Douglas DC-4 made its first test flight. 1940 King Haakon VII of Norway, Crown Prince Olav and the Norwegian government left Tromsø and went into exile in London. 1942 World War II: The Battle of Midway ended. 1942 Japanese troops landed on the islands of Attu and Kiska in the Aleutian Islands. 1942 Japanese submarines shelled Sydney and Newcastle, NSW, Australia, but caused little damage. 1944 Nazi Panzer SS troops executed 23 Canadian prisoners of war in Normandy. 1945 King Haakon VII of Norway returned with his family to Oslo after five years in exile. 1945 The fourth draft of Under the Volcano was destroyed when Malcolm Lowry's shack on a beach in British Columbia burned to the ground. 1946 Author/actor Antonin Artaud was released from Rodez (mental institution). 1948 Edvard Benes resigned as President of Czechoslovakia rather than sign a Constitution making his nation a Communist state. 1970 Rock group The Who performed their rock opera Tommy at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York. 1971 (Ostensibly) to keep out cholera, being carried by refugees, India sealed its border with Bangladesh. 1981 Israeli Air Force jets carried out a pre-emptive strike on Iraq's Osiraq nuclear reactor at Baghdad. Israel said that Iraq was planning to build nuclear weapons to use against the Jewish state. 1982 Elvis Presley's home, Graceland, opened as a museum and shrine to the dead rock 'n' roller. 1982 The yacht Australia II, which went on to become the first non-USA winner of the America's Cup in 1983, was launched by Eileen Bond, wife of the owner Alan Bond (b. 1938), a prominent Aussie businessman who followed his yachting success with a long stint in prison for defrauding thousands of people who trusted him with their investments. 1990 President FW de Klerk lifted the state of emergency in South Africa. 1993 Dubious Publicity Stunt Dep't: On his 35th birthday, Prince changed his name to a symbol and came to be referred to as 'The Artist formerly known as Prince'. 1997 A computer user known as '_eci' published his Microsoft C source code on a Windows 95 and Windows NT exploit, which would later become WinNuke. The source code got wide distribution across the Net, and Microsoft was forced to release a security patch. 2001 Tony Blair's Labour Party won a second landslide victory in the General Election. 2004 The Sikh leader Prem Singh Chandumajra launched the political party Shiromani Akali Dal (Longowal).     Tomorrow: Forty days of rain if it's wet    Main calendar | Yesterday | Tomorrow | Search     Wikipedia and David Brown's prodigious Daily Bleed are both excellent resources that aid my research. I frequently make use of their generously liberal 'fair use', 'copyleft' and 'anti-copyright' policies, with much gratitude. © My own copyright policy is also liberal, but as this is my livelihood, conditions apply. Read more about today at Wilson's Blogmanac

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