This page is big!
If it fails to load fully, please click Refresh on your browser menu.
It's fully loaded when you see the purple menu bar at the foot of the page.
reetings from Australia.
Welcome to
this Red-Letter Day. Below you will find today's global celebrations,
birthdays and events.
Celebrate each
and every day with a free subscription to the daily ezine. You can apply by
form or send a blank email. Read
what the 'Almaniacs' (members) say about Wilson's Almanac.
I request your
support
if this website pleases and informs you, as this is my livelihood. Thank
you, from the bottom of my fridge.
Inquiries from
publishers are welcome, but, dear reader, please don't use my work without
my written
permission. If I've inadvertently used something of yours that you
consider not to fall under the fair use
doctrine, please tell me and I'll remove it.
Before Bonifaz no summer,after the Sofie no frost. TraditionalGerman proverb; today is the feast day of St
Boniface of Tarsus (see Eisheilige)
What
ideas individuals may attach to the term "Millennium" I know
not; but I know that society may be formed so as to exist without
crime, without poverty, with health greatly improved, with little, if
any misery, and with intelligence and happiness increased a
hundredfold; and no obstacle whatsoever intervenes at this moment
except ignorance to prevent such a state of society from becoming
universal. Robert Owen, Welsh-born philanthropic social reformer and pioneer of the
cooperative movement,
born on May 14, 1771
Question: At what age to take children into your mills?
Robert Owen: At ten and upwards.
Question: Why do you not employ children at an earlier age?
Robert Owen: Because I consider it to be injurious to the children, and not beneficial to the proprietors.
Question: What reasons have you to suppose it is injurious to the children to be employed at an earlier age?
Robert Owen: Seventeen years ago, a number of individuals, with myself, purchased the
New Lanark establishment from Mr. Dale. I found that there were 500 children, who had been taken from poor-houses, chiefly in Edinburgh, and those children were generally from the age of five and six, to seven to eight. The hours at that time were thirteen. Although these children were well fed their limbs were very generally deformed, their growth was stunted, and although one of the best schoolmasters was engaged to instruct these children regularly every night, in general they made very slow progress, even in learning the common alphabet. I came to the conclusion that the children were injured by being taken into the mills at this early age, and employed for so many hours; therefore, as soon as I had it in my power, I adopted regulations to put an end to a system which appeared to me to be so injurious.
Question: Do you give instruction to any part of your population?
Robert Owen: Yes. To the children from three years old upwards, and to every other part of the population that choose to receive it.
Question: If you do not employ children under ten, what would you do with them?
Robert Owen: Instruct them, and give them exercise.
Question: Would not there be a danger of their acquiring, by that time, vicious habits, for want of regular occupation?
Robert Owen: My own experiences leads me to say, that I found quite the reverse, that their habits have been good in proportion to the extent of their instruction.
Robert Owen, appearing before Sir Robert
Peel's House of
Commons Committee, UK, on April 26, 1816Source
Emma Goldman,
American anarcho-feminist, who died on May 14, 1940
What we need is a propaganda
of education for the soldier: antipatriotic literature that will
enlighten him as to the real horrors of his trade, and that will
awaken his consciousness to his true relation to the man to whose
labor he owes his very existence. It is precisely this that the
authorities fear most. It is already high treason for a soldier to
attend a radical meeting. No doubt they will also stamp it high
treason for a soldier to read a radical pamphlet. But, then, has not
authority from time immemorial stamped every step of progress as
treasonable ? Emma
Goldman, American anarcho-feminist, who died on May 14, 1940
Patriotism assumes that our
globe is divided into little spots, each one surrounded by an iron
gate. Those who have had the fortune of being born on some particular
spot, consider themselves better, nobler, grander, more intelligent
than the living beings inhabiting any other spot. It is, therefore,
the duty of everyone living on that chosen spot to fight, kill, and
die in the attempt to impose his superiority upon all the others. Emma Goldman
That is the kind of ad I like. Facts,
facts, facts. Samuel
Goldwyn
(attrib.)
I don't think anybody should write his
autobiography until after he's dead. Samuel
Goldwyn
(attrib.)
Pictures are for entertainment, messages
should be delivered by Western Union. Samuel
Goldwyn
(attrib.)
Too caustic? To hell with the cost. If
it's a good picture, we'll make it. Samuel
Goldwyn
(attrib.)
That's the trouble with directors.
Always biting the hand that lays the golden egg. Samuel
Goldwyn
(attrib.)
I had a monumental idea this morning,
but I didn't like it. Samuel
Goldwyn
(attrib.)
I'll take fifty percent efficiency to
get one hundred percent loyalty. Samuel
Goldwyn
(attrib.)
I read part of it all the way through. Samuel
Goldwyn
(attrib.)
God makes stars. I just produce them. Samuel
Goldwyn
(attrib.)
Crazy with fury I will stain my rifle red while slaughtering any enemy that falls in my hands! My nostrils dilate while savoring the acrid odor of gunpowder and blood. With the deaths of my enemies I prepare my being for the sacred fight and join the triumphant proletariat with a bestial howl! Che Guevara, revolutionary, born on May 14, 1928; The Motorcycle Diaries
Hatred is an element of struggle; relentless hatred of the enemy that impels us over and beyond the natural limitations of man and transforms us into effective, violent, selective, and cold killing machines. Our soldiers must be thus; a people without hatred cannot vanquish a brutal enemy. Che Guevara; 'Message to the Tricontinental', 1967
I cannot express the revulsion I feel at this unnecessary act of cruelty. Its limitless savagery represents the continuation of a calculated attempt to create a sense of trepidation through the practice of horrors designed to shock normal sensibilities.
The brutal excesses of the Philippines campaign, the execution of our captured airmen, the barbarity of Papua, are all of a pattern. The enemy does not understand - he apparently cannot understand - that our invincible strength is not so much of the body, as it is of the soul, and rises with adversity.
The Red Cross will not falter under this foul blow. Its light of mercy will but shine the brighter on our way to inevitable victory. US General Douglas
MacArthur on the sinking of the Australian hospital ship Centaur
on May 14, 1943
It is with the deepest regret that the Commonwealth Government has learned of the loss of the Australian hospital ship
Centaur and I know that the news will come also as a profound shock to the Australian people. The attack which took place within a few miles of the Queensland coast bears all the marks of wantonness and deliberation. Not only will it stir our people into a more acute realisation of the type of enemy against whom we are fighting, but I am confident also that this deed will shock the conscience of the whole civilised world and demonstrate to all who may have had any lingering doubts the unscrupulous and barbarous methods by which the Japanese conduct warfare. Australian Prime Minister John Curtin, on
the sinking of the Centaur
Be realistic! Demand the impossible.
Slogan of students' demonstrations, Paris, 1968
Beneath the paving stones, the beach!
Slogan of students' demonstrations, Paris, 1968
Thanks to teachers and
examinations, careerism begins at age six. Slogan of students' demonstrations, Paris, 1968
Remembering your gifts, men
to whom you have granted, wealth and great blessing (which you give them
to possess all their lives). All duly set aside for you one tenth of these
blessings, rejoicing each year at the time of the Panegyric. Isodorus, Hymn II. 21, to Isis
Today is another day on which the god Mars
(see yesterday)
was honoured in Rome. Dummy figures ('argei') of men and women, in
some kind of long-forgotten purification ceremony, were thrown into the
River Tiber by the pontifices, vestals and praetors. Perhaps this harks
back to an agrarian people and a sacrifice to the deity of
spring.
"Saint Boniface was the chief steward of a beautiful, young and socially ambitious Roman noblewoman, named Aglae. Several times she entertained the entire city with public shows. Aglae held lascivious plans for her steward. Although Boniface was an alcoholic and addicted to debauchery, he also possessed virtues to a remarkable degree: hospitality, liberality, and compassion. He was known to assist any stranger in need and to wander the city streets at night seeking out those whose miseries he could relieve.
"After several years of working for Aglae, she, moved by Divine grace, said to him,
'You must realize how deeply mired we are in vice. We have not considered that we must appear before God to give an account of all our actions. I have heard it said that they who honor those that suffer for the sake of Jesus Christ shall have a share in their glory. In the East, the servants of Jesus Christ every day suffer torments, and lay down their lives for His sake. Go there and bring me the relics of some of those conquerors, that we may honor their memories, and be saved by their
assistance.'
Before he left he told Aglae: "I won't fail to bring back with me the relics of martyrs, if I find any; but what if my own body should be brought to you for that of a martyr?" She reproved him for joking about so serious a matter. Thus, Boniface travelled East to secure relics for his mistress, a man renewed in spirit and finally convicted in his faith. Sorrow for his past sins grew as he travelled, and so did his acts of
penance ..
"The body and head of Boniface were found in Rome in 1603. His relics are enshrined under the high altar in the church of SS. Alexius and Boniface on the Aventine, formerly called Saint Boniface."
Source
"Spent a wild youth, and remained a
confirmed bachelor
all his life. Convert,
brought to the Faith by a wealthy Roman lady named Algae during a
journey to the East to search for relics
of previous saints. Martyred
for defending Christians put to torture
for their beliefs." Source
Portuguese
Dominican
physician (c. 1185 - May 14, 1265). In his youth he made a compact
with the Devil, selling his soul for seven years so that he could
learn the arts of magic and necromancy.
"When he was still a boy, he already
held prebends at Braga, Coimbra, Idanha, and Santarem. Gil,
however, held no desire to be an ecclesiastic; his ambition was
to become a famous physician. After devoting some time to the
study of philosophy and medicine at Coimbra he set out for Paris,
with the intention of perfecting himself in the science of
medicine and obtaining the doctor's degree. If we may give
credence to his unknown contemporaneous biographer, he was
accosted on his journey by a courteous stranger who promised to
teach the art of magic at Toledo. As payment, so the legend runs,
the stranger required that Gil should make over his soul to the devil
and sign the compact with his blood. Gil obeyed and after devoting
himself seven years to the study of magic under the direction of Satan,
went to Paris, easily obtained the degree of doctor of medicine,
and performed many wonderful cures. One night while he was locked
up in his library a gigantic knight, armed head to foot, appeared
to him and, with his sword drawn, demanded that Gil should change
his wicked life. The same spectre appeared a second time, and
threatened to kill Gil if he would not reform. Gil now repented of
his evil ways, burnt his books of magic and returned to Portugal,
where he took the habit of St. Dominic in the newly-erected
monastery at Palencia, about 1221. Shortly after, his superiors
sent him to the Dominican house at Scallabis, the present Santarem.
Here he led a life of prayer and penance, and for seven years his
mind was tormented by the thought of the compact which was still
in the hands of Satan.
Finally, his biographer narrates, the devil
was compelled to surrender the compact and place it before the
altar of the Blessed
Virgin. Gil returned to Paris to study theology and on his
return to Portugal became famous for his piety and learning. He
was twice elected provincial of his order in Spain. Benedict
XIV ratified his cult on 9 March, 1748." Source
Feast day of St Matthias
the Apostle (Matthias of Jerusalem) [From Wikipedia:
In the New
TestamentActs
of the Apostles, the author of the Gospel of Luke
records that Matthias was the Apostle
chosen by the remaining eleven apostles to replace Judas
Iscariot, following Judas's betrayal of Jesus
and his suicide (Acts 1:21 - 26). St Matthias is venerated
with a feast day
in the Roman
Catholic Church that was February
24, until it was moved in the 20th Century to May
14, and in the Eastern
Orthodox Church with a feast celebrated on August
9.] As most of the ancient folklore associated with this saint
is associated with the older feast day of February
24, that's where most of the information and lore about this
saint is kept in the Book of Days.
Runic half-month of Ing commences Male consort of Nerthus, the
Earth Mother, Ing is god of the hearth. This time of year expresses
potential for abundant growth.(Nigel
Pennick,
The Pagan Book of Days, Destiny
Books, Rochester, Vermont, USA, 1992,
p. 70.)
Guinean Democratic Party Day A holiday in Republic of
Guinea. Anniversary of foundation of the Guinean Democratic Party in
1947.
Liberian Unification and Integration Day Honours the foundation of
National Unification Party.
Kamuzu Day, Malawi A day to commemorate the
first president, Kamuzu Banda.
Flag
Day, Paraguay (tomorrow is
Independence Observance Day) Honours the only flag in
world with different obverse and reverse: the horizontal stripes are
red, white and blue. On the obverse the white stripes have the arms
of the republic, on the reverse a lion and the inscription "Paz y
Justicia".
From
Wikipedia: Yom
Ha'atzmaut (Hebrew:
יום העצמאותyom hā-'aṣmā'ūṯ),
Israeli Independence Day, commemorates the declaration of
independence of Israel in 1948.
It is always preceded by
Yom Hazikaron, the Israel fallen soldiers
Remembrance Day on the 4th of
Iyar
(pronounced 'eeyahr').
An official ceremony is held every year on
Mount Herzl on the eve of Yom Ha'atzmaut.
The ceremony includes a speech by the speaker of the
Knesset (the Israeli Parliament), a
dramatic presentation, a ritual march of soldiers carrying the
Flag of Israel, forming elaborate
structures (such as a
Menorah,
Magen David and a number which represents
the age of Israel) and the lighting of twelve beacons (each for
every one of the
Tribes of Israel). Every year a dozen
Israeli citizens, who made a significant contribution in a selected
area, are invited to light the beacons.
Battledore and Shuttlecock
"One of the traditional games for this day is battledore and
shuttlecock. An early version of badminton, the aim is to keep the
shuttlecock up in the air as long as possible."Source
On which day of the week were you born? Find out here
Owen was the father of Robert Dale
Owen, Scottish-born American social reformer and politician (1801 - 1877).
One of New Harmony's prominent citizens was the anarchist author Josiah Warren
(1798 - 1874).
"Under
Owen's management the cotton mills and village of New Lanark
became a model community, in which the drive towards progress
and prosperity through new technology of the Industrial
Revolution was tempered by a caring and humane regime. New
Lanark had the first Infant School, a creche for working
mothers, free medical care, and comprehensive education,
including evening classes. Leisure and recreation were not
forgotten; there were concerts, dancing, music-making and
pleasant landscaped areas for the benefit of the community. The
village attracted international attention."Source
1928Che
Guevara (Ernesto Guevara; d. October 9, 1967), Argentinian-born
Stalinist revolutionary who fought with Fidel Castro in Cuba, and in
Bolivia; commonly extolled as a hero despite his authoritarian and
bloodthirsty ideology and crimes against humanity.
Guevara's first position in the ruthless
Communist Cuban dictatorship was that of comandante of
La Cabaña (La
Cabana) fortress in Havana. There he had jurisdiction over the
notorious 'war criminals' trials, which allegedly resulted in the
execution of 600 civilian and military officials.
Many individuals imprisoned at La Cabaña, such as poet and human rights
activist Armando
Valladares, who worked in the new revolutionary government but
was sent to prison for refusing to place a placard on his desk at
work stating that he supported Communism,
allege that Guevara took particular and personal interest in the
interrogation, torture, and execution of prisoners. Guevara
also assisted Raul Castro in purging and reorganizing the national
army to make it the "principal political arm of the people's
revolution".
For me, it meant 8,000 days of hunger, of systematic beatings, of hard labor,
of solitary confinement and solitude, 8,000 days of struggling to
prove that I was a human being, 8,000 days of proving that my spirit
could triumph over exhaustion and pain, 8,000 days of testing my
religious convictions, my faith, of fighting the hate my atheist
jailers were trying to instill in me with each bayonet thrust,
fighting so that hate would not flourish in my heart, 8,000 days of
struggling so that I would not become like them. Armando Valladares,
one of Che Guevara's thousands of victims Source
The famous '60s image
of Guevara was taken from a photo from March, 1960
by lifelong communist Alberto
Korda. The eyes of the revolutionary
have been altered by an unknown person to give him a more saintly
and courageous look.
Korda said, "As a supporter of the ideals for
which Che Guevara died, I am not averse to its reproduction by those
who wish to propagate his memory and the cause of social justice
throughout the world." The intention of your almanackist accords
with only the second of Korda's criteria.
"Cuba was a nation of 6.5
million in 1959. Within three months in power, Castro and Che had
shamed the Nazi prewar incarceration and murder rate. One defector
claims that Che signed 500 death warrants, another says over 600.
Cuban journalist Luis Ortega, who knew Che as early as 1954,
writes in his book 'Yo Soy El Che!' that Guevara sent 1,897
men to the firing squad. In his book 'Che Guevara: A
Biography,' Daniel James writes that Che himself admitted to
ordering 'several thousand' executions during the first few years
of the Castro regime." Che
Guevara: Assassin and Bumbler
"Since, for
several years, Che was a prominent member of a group holding
state power, he shares responsibility for the repressive record
of that regime, particularly when he was allied with those who
energetically pressed the Cuban revolutionary government to
adopt the Soviet model. Guevara was personally responsible for
supervising many of these repressive activities. He was the head
of La Cabaña military fortress where several hundred executions
were carried out in the early months of 1959. While Castañeda is
correct in pointing out that innocent people were not executed
there in any large or significant numbers, (pp.143-144) it
cannot be ruled out that there were innocent people whose
execution could have been avoided had Che been a revolutionary
with different politics. It is also possible that some
Batistianos may have suffered punishments quite disproportionate
to the offenses with which they were properly charged. This is
an area which requires additional investigation, particularly in
the light of recurring charges by those who claim to have
witnessed Guevara's cruelty at La Cabaña." Source
An interesting insight into Guevara's
thoughts on democracy
can be seen during a press conference at the United
Nations, when American journalist Nat Hentoff
asked Guevara, "Can you conceive of any time in the future
when there will be free elections in Cuba?"
Not waiting for the translator, Guevara
laughed heartily at Hentoff. "In Cuba?" he asked, and
moved on.
Note: Guevara's birth date is
often given as June 14, as it was for quite some time in the Book of
Days. It appears that he was actually born on May 14, but his mother
lied on the birth certificate, which she admitted later. Source
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
On
this day, Reverend Robert Kirk of Aberfoyle, Scotland (author of The
Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns and Fairies), collapsed and died on
a hill near his home, called the Fairy Knowe. After his funeral, Kirk
is said to have appeared
to a relative with a message for his cousin that he had been taken away by
fairies, and held captive. He told his cousin, Graham of Duchray, that he would
reappear at the christening of his posthumous child, and that Duchray should
break the spell by throwing a knife over his head. When Kirk's ghost appeared
as predicted, his cousin was so upset he forgot to throw the knife, and Kirk's
ghost disappeared forever. Or, so it is said.
The legend grew up that Kirk
could be freed if a child was born and christened at his manse, and a knife was
stuck into the reverend gentleman's chair at the christening. In the Aberfoyle district, Rev. Kirk is believed by
some not to have died, but to have been taken into fairyland, where he lives today.
On this day, the English physician fairly conclusively
established the principles of vaccination. He had observed that milkmaids who
contracted cowpox were immune to smallpox and decided to see if there was a
preventative connection. His method would certainly be considered reckless by
today's standards, and involved an eight-year-old 'guinea pig' named James
Phipps, who might have died from the experiment.
"A boy of the name of Phipps
was inoculated in the arm, from a pustule on the hand of a young woman, who was
infected by her master's cows. Having never seen the disease but in its casual
way before, that is, when communicated from the cow to the hand of the milker, I
was astonished at the close resemblance of the pustules, in some of their
stages, to the variolous pustules. But now listen to the most delightful part of
my story. The boy has since been inoculated for the small-pox, which, as I
ventured to predict, produced no ill effect."
1801
Pasha Yusuf Karamanli of Tripoli declared war on the US.
1804 USA: The Lewis and Clark
Expedition departed from Camp Dubois and began its historic journey
by travelling up the Missouri Riveron the search for an overland way to the Pacific.
Costing
sixpence,
the magazine had sixteen pages and thirty-two
woodcuts.
The first edition included pictures of the war in
Afghanistan,
a train crash in France,
a
steamboat
explosion in Canada
and a fancy dress ball at
Buckingham Palace.
It was an immediate success and the first edition sold 26,000 copies; within a few months it was selling more than 65,000 copies a week.
"By 1848, boosted by coverage of the
French Revolution, circulation reached 80,000. The 1851 Great
Exhibition saw the number reach 130,000, only to be surpassed by
the funeral of the Duke of Wellington when 150,000 copies were
sold. By 1855, the weekly circulation reached 200,000. A peak of
310,000 was reached in 1863 with the issue covering the marriage
of the Prince of Wales."
Source
1881Death of Mary Jane
Seacole (b. 1805),
a Britishnurse who distinguished herself
for her dedication and courage caring for troops during the Crimean War.
Her autobiography,
The Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands, was published in
1857 and provides a vivid account of her life and experiences.
Seacole has been described as the blackFlorence Nightingale,
whose exploits in organising the hospital at Scutari have overshadowed those
of Seacole in popular memory. A campaign to erect a sculpture of Seacole in London was
launched on November 24, 2003, and she was voted into first
place in an online poll of 100 Great Black Britons in
2004.
1914
The Hellenic Holocaust started, according to an
official document from Talaat Bey (Minister of the Interior) to the prefect of Smyrna.
1919 After meeting TS
Eliot,Lytton Strachey called the poet
"rather ill and rather American ... But by no means to be sniffed at."
1921London's
Daily Express reported the birth in
Nice, France, of a kitten with '1921' distinctly marked in grey fur on its
white belly.
1927The ill-fatedGerman luxury passenger steamer, Cap Arcona,
was launched at the Blohm & Voss shipyard, in Hamburg. Less than 20 years later, many thousands of innocent prisoners aboard her were to become victims of an Allied bombing that seems to have fallen through the cracks of history.
On May 3, 1945, the Cap
Arcona, the Thielbek, the Athen and the passenger liner SS Deutschland
floated unprotected in the Lübeck bay between
Neustadt and
Scharbeutz and were
sunk by Allied aircraft. Approximately 7,000 to 8,000 prisoners from the
concentration camps were drowned; any survivors were shot by the SS.
1939Paurange, Peru: Lina
Medina, aged five years, seven months and 21 days, became the world's
youngest confirmed mother
in medical history. The case is confirmed as true by such bodies as the American
College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Lina had her first period at
two-and-a-half.
1943Australian hospital ship AHS Centaurwassunk by a torpedo from a Japanese submarine.
The sinking of
the Centaur
In contravention of the rules of war under the Hague Convention of 1907 and the Geneva Convention of 1929, a Japanese submarine torpedoed
the Australian hospital ship, Centaur, at 27°17' S, 153°58' E about 50 miles east north-east of
Brisbane.
The mercy vessel sank and only
64 people survived out ofthe Centaur's passengers and crew of 332, the highest
death toll of any merchant vessel sunk by a submarine in the Pacific theatre of war.
Built at Scotland's Greenock Shipyard in 1924, the
3,222-tonne Centaur had earlier served as a cargo ship working between
Singapore and
Fremantle before World War II.
The Centaur had been commissioned on March 12, 1943, and its task was to
perform dangerous mercy missions to battle zones. In
November,
1941, it had rescued survivors of the German auxiliary cruiser
Kormoran after it had sunk and been sunk by HMAS
Sydney.
At 4:10 am on Friday, May 14, while on passage to Port
Moresby, New Guinea, in the heart of the war against Japan, a torpedo ended her
life. She was hit in the fuel tank, burst into flames and sank within three
minutes. The following day, an Avro Anson from 71
Squadron RAAF based at Lowood Airfield,
located survivors in the water and radioed United States destroyer, USS Mugford,
to "pick up survivors in water ahead".
Sister Ellen Savage, from Quirindi, NSW, and Colonel
Outridge were two of the heroes of the tragedy. Sister Savage, only 23 years
old, and Colonel Outridge clung to a makeshift raft and selflessly tended to the
injured and those who were convulsing after swallowing oil.
The wreck
of the Centaur was discovered in 1995.
1948Israel declared
itself to be an independent state and a provisional government was established.
During the establishment period (referred to by
most Palestinians
and Arabs as the Nakba, meaning the 'disaster', 'catastrophe', or
'cataclysm'), more than
700,000 Palestinians were systematically expelled from their ancient homeland and many
were murdered (see
1948 Palestinian exodus). More than sixty years later, the number of refugees and
their descendants still living under the notorious
Israeli
occupation of Palestine numbered about four million people.
Pictured above: Palestinian
refugees flee the Israeli occupation
The total Palestinian population worldwide is
estimated to be between 10 and 11 million people, over half of whom
are stateless, lacking citizenship in any country.
Sands of Sorrow
(1950), from YouTube
Israeli vans with loudspeakers drove
through the streets ordering all the inhabitants to evacuate
immediately, and such as were reluctant to leave were forcibly
ejected from their homes by the triumphant Israelis whose policy
was now openly one of clearing out all the Arab civil population
before them ... From the surrounding villages and hamlets,
during the next two or three days, all the inhabitants were
uprooted and set off on the road to Ramallah ... No longer was
there any "reasonable persuasion". Bluntly, the Arab inhabitants
were ejected and forced to flee into Arab territory ... Wherever
the Israeli troops advanced into Arab country the Arab
population was bulldozed out in front of them.
Edgar O'Ballance, military historian, The Arab-Israeli War
1948, Faber and Faber,
London, 1956,
pp. 147, 172
1948 The murder
of a three-year-old girl in Blackburn, England led to the fingerprinting
of more than 40,000 men in the city in an attempt to find the murderer.
Segregationists
attacked and burned the Freedom Rider Greyhound bus near Anniston.
Following the incident, Bob Dylan wrote
'The Death of Emmett Till':
Then
they rolled his body down a gulf amidst a bloody red rain
And they threw
him in the waters wide to cease his screaming pain.
The reason
that they killed him there, and I'm sure it ain't no lie,
Was just for the fun of killin' him and to watch him slowly die
… Bob Dylan, 'The Death of Emmett Till'
1964Egypt's
president Gamal Abdal Nasser and Soviet premier
Nikita Khrushchev pressed a
button that effected the diversion of the Nile River necessary to build the next
stage of the Aswan Dam.
"I will make the rivers (of Egypt) dry ...
and I will make the land waste, and all that is
therein, by the hand of strangers." (Ezekiel 30:12-13)
"Millions of people worldwide are facing serious
threats to their livelihoods and cultures due to the construction of large dams.
Intended to boost development, these projects have led instead to further
impoverishment, degraded environments and human rights violations. An estimated
40-80 million people have been forcibly evicted from their lands to make way for
dams. Evidence shows that these people have often been left economically,
culturally and psychologically devastated.
"Growing
evidence shows that dams often fall short of meeting their projected benefits.
In November 2000, the World
Commission on Dams released a highly critical report showing that dams have
generated less power, irrigated less land and supplied less drinking water than
projected. While dams can prevent some floods from occurring, the WCD found that
they can also exacerbate damages suffered when floods do occur. Projects studied
by the WCD incurred an average cost overrun of 56 percent, and about half faced
delays of one year or more. For more information on the economic, social and
environmental impacts on dams, please click on the
About Dams link."
Source: International Rivers Network
1) Erosion of coastline barriers, due to lack of new
sediments from floods, will eventually cause loss of brackish water lake fishery
that is currently the largest source of fish to Egypt.
2) Subsidence of Delta,
due to lack of new sediment supplies from flood, will lead to inundation of
northern portion of Delta, much of which now used for rice crops.
3) Deposition of
sediments in Lake Nasser will eventually eliminate irrigation water storage
volume from the reservoir, preventing the main use for which the High Dam was
constructed.
4) The quantities of
sediments which will accumulate in Lake Nasser are so large that there are no
plausible ways to remove them in the future.
1967A
'be-in' was held at Independence Hall, Philadelphia, USA.
1968May 1968, Paris: French workers
supported the Paris student demonstrations by going on strike.
1968 USA:
J Edgar
Hoover, director of the FBI, sent a
memorandum
to all FBI field offices initiating a counter-intelligence program (COINTELPRO)
to disrupt New Left groups.
"Counter Intelligence
Program: Internal Security: Disruption of the New Left
"The purpose of this program is to
expose, disrupt, and otherwise neutralize the activities of the
various new left organizations, their leadership, and their
adherents. It is imperative that activities of those groups be
followed on a continuous basis so that we may take advantage of
all opportunities for counter intelligence and also inspire
action where circumstance warrant." Quoted in Hayden, Tom,
Reunion:
A Memoir, Random House, NY, 1988 Source
1987 A coup took place in Fiji led by Colonel
Sitiveni Rabuka, due
to native Melanesians' displeasure at the economic, political and cultural
influences that Indian migrants and migrant descendants were having in the
country.
1990 A
Jewish grave was desecrated at Carpentras cemetery, France, giving rise to fears
of growing anti-Semitism.
1991 The world's largest burrito was created –
approximately 511 kg (1,126
lb) in weight.
reetings from Australia.
How it works
![International Day Of Families [ May 15 ] free e-cards](http://img.123greetings.com/events/images/international60.gif)
![AIDS Candlelight Memorial [ May 16 ] free e-cards](http://img.123greetings.com/events/images/aidsmemcandle60.gif)
![Mother's Day [ May 14 ]](http://img.123greetings.com/homeimages/side_mothers_day_1.gif){kind=small}
![Graduation [ May - June ]](http://img.123greetings.com/homeimages/side_graduation_1.gif){kind=small}
If you are enjoying this page, 
