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Pip Wilson

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Today is

Most people seem to think I'm the kind of guy who shaves with a blowtorch. Actually I'm bookish and worrisome.
Burt Lancaster, American actor, born on November 2, 1913

It's the best job in picture business because when you're a director, you're God. And you know that's the best job in town.
Burt Lancaster

Life is to be lived within the limits of your knowledge and within the concept of what you would like to see yourself to be.
Burt Lancaster

Tits and sand – that's what we used to call sex and violence in Hollywood.
Burt Lancaster (1983)

I don't know why Airport was nominated for any Oscars – it's the biggest piece of junk ever.
Burt Lancaster (he played in Airport)

We're all forgotten sooner or later. But not films. That's all the memorial we should need or hope for.
Burt Lancaster

I woke up one day a star. It was terrifying. Then I worked hard toward becoming a good actor.
Burt Lancaster

Sister, you're trying to keep me alive as an old curiosity, but I'm done, I'm finished, I'm going to die.
Last words of George Bernard Shaw, Irish writer, who died on November 2, 1950   Source

God bless ... God damn.
Last words (attrib.) of James Thurber ), American humorist who died on November 2, 1961

November 2 is the 306^th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (307^th in leap years), with 59 days remaining.
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All Souls Day (Solemnity of All Souls; Commemoration of the Faithful Departed), Catholicism

All Souls Day (Commemoratio omnium fidelium defunctorum) is the day set apart in the Roman Catholic Church for the commemoration of the faithful departed. The celebration is based on the doctrine that the souls of the faithful which at death have not been cleansed from venial sins, or have not atoned for past transgressions, cannot attain the Beatific Vision, and that they may be helped to do so by prayer and by the sacrifice of the mass.

The feast falls on the 2nd of November; or on the 3rd if the 2nd is a Sunday or a festival of the first class ...

Certain popular beliefs connected with All Souls Day are of pagan origin and immemorial antiquity. Thus the dead are believed by the peasantry of many Catholic countries to return to their former homes on All Souls Night and partake of the food of the living. In Tirol, cakes are left for them on the table and the room kept warm for their comfort. In Brittany, the people flock into the cemeteries at nightfall to kneel bare-headed at the graves of their loved ones, and to toll the hollow of the tombstone with holy water or to pour libations of milk upon it, and at bedtime the supper is left on the table for the soul's refreshment.

Wikipedia

Celebrated much more in former days, on All Souls Day (the day following All Saints or All Hallows' Day), people pray for the souls of the dead, particularly those believed to be in Purgatory.

It is celebrated in the Roman Catholic Church which has set it aside for a service for the repose of the deceased. Roman Catholic doctrine holds that after death, human spirits might spend time in a punishing place called Purgatory, which the Catholic Encyclopedia defines thus: "Purgatory (Lat., 'purgare', to make clean, to purify) in accordance with Catholic teaching is a place or condition of temporal punishment for those who, departing this life in God's grace, are, not entirely free from venial faults, or have not fully paid the satisfaction due to their transgressions … since our prayers and our sacrifices can help those who are still waiting in purgatory, the saints have not hesitated to warn us that we have a real duty toward those who are still in purgatorial expiation." Apparently, purgatorial punishment can be for seemingly minor sins: a long time after his death, Saint Severin, Archbishop of Cologne, appeared to a friend and told him that he had been in purgatory for having postponed until evening a prayer that he should have said in the morning.

In England it used to be observed by the ringing of the soul bell, the eating of soul cakes (flat, round, spicy cakes), and the blessing of beans.

(A bell, the 'passing bell' was also rung when a person was in extremis, to scare away evil spirits. [Similarly, the ancient Athenians used to beat on kettles at the moment of one's death, to frighten away the Furies.] )

The English would distribute soul cakes to the poor who went a-souling at the church door. The poor would say:

Soul, soul, for soul cake,
Pray you, good mistress, a soul cake.

Papers called Soul-papers were given away with these cakes. They contained requests for prayers for the souls of the departed.

Before 998, All Souls' was marked with celebrations from the festival of Woden (Odin) as god of the dead, "parading the Hodening wild horse and other guising including mummers' plays enacting the mysteries of life, death and rebirth". (Pennick, Nigel, The Pagan Book of Days, Destiny Books, Rochester, Vermont, USA, 1992) Hodening is a custom which used to be found in Wales, and locally in Kent, Lancashire, and other English counties, at various dates during the Christmas and New Year seasons, and seems to be a survival of the hobby-horse tradition once common during the Christmas season in the British Isles.

"This is a festival celebrated by the Roman Catholic Church, on behalf of the souls in purgatory, for whose release the prayers of the faithful are this day offered up and masses performed. It is said to have been first introduced in the ninth century by Odilon, abbot of Cluny; but was not generally established till towards the end of the tenth century. Its observance was esteemed of such importance, that in the event of its falling on a Sunday, it was ordered not to be postponed till the Monday, as in the case of other celebrations, but to take place on the previous Saturday, that the souls of the departed might suffer no detriment from the want of the prayers of the church. It was customary in former times, on this day, for persons dressed in black to traverse the streets, ringing a dismal-toned bell at every corner, and calling on the inhabitants to remember the souls suffering penance in purgatory, and to join in prayer for their liberation and repose. 

"At Naples, it used to be a custom on this day to throw open the charnel-houses, which were lighted up with torches and decked with flowers, while crowds thronged through the vaults to visit the bodies of their friends and relatives, the fleshless skeletons of which were dressed up in robes and arranged in niches along the walls. At Salerno, also, we are told, that a custom prevailed previous to the fifteenth century, of providing in every house on the eve of All-Souls-Day, a sumptuous entertainment for the souls in purgatory who were supposed then to revisit temporarily, and make merry in, the scene of their earthly pilgrimage. Every one quitted the habitation, and after spending the night at church, returned in the morning to find the whole feast consumed, it being deemed eminently inauspicious if a morsel of victuals remained uneaten. The thieves who made a harvest of this pious custom, assembling, then, from all parts of the country, generally took good care to avert any such evil omen from the inmates of the house by carefully carrying off whatever they were unable themselves to consume. A resemblance may be traced in this observance, to an incident in the story of Bel and the Dragon, in the Apocrypha."
Robert Chambers, (Ed.), The Book of Days: A miscellany of popular antiquities in connection with the calendar, etc, W & R Chambers, London, 1881 (1879 Edition is online and 1869 edition here with CD-ROM available; See also The English Year: A Personal Selection from Chambers' Book of Days)

Soul Cakes

Ingredients:
Two sticks butter
3 and 3/4 cups sifted flour
1 cup fine white sugar
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg or mace
1 teaspoon each, cinnamon, ginger, allspice
2 eggs
2 teaspoons malt vinegar (or cider vinegar)
Oven:
350 degrees; bake 20-25 minutes
Method: Cut the butter into the flour with a pastry blender
(or a large fork). Blend in the sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon and
spice and mix to a stiff dough with the beaten eggs and
vinegar. Knead thoroughly and roll out, 1/4 inch thick. Cut
into 3-inch rounds and set on greased baking sheets. Prick
cakes with a fork and bake. Sprinkle lightly with powdered sugar

"During the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church tried to replace the idea of ghosts wandering around the night sky with that of souls who went straight to Heaven, Hell or Purgatory upon death and thus could not be contacted by those spiritual practitioners whose role it was to pass along messages from one world to another.

"With this development, the link was broken between people and their ancestors, who could no longer be prayed to or invited to return to provide advice."
School of the Seasons, from a good article on All Souls Day

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Dveselu Diena, ancient Latvia   Dveselu Diena ('day of souls'), also called Visu Sveto Diena ('all holy day'). Families (supposedly, both living and dead members) gathered at their burial plots during the evening to commemorate the continuation of life. Latvian holidays The Isia, to the goddess Isis, ancient Egypt; the Zetesis and Heuresis, sixth day (Oct 28 - Nov 3) The Good Spirit, ancient Greece "Greek: The 2nd day of each month is sacred to the Agathos Daimon, the "Good Spirit" (roughly equivalent to a combination of the Will and the guardian angel of each person).   Source El Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), Mexico and the United States (Nov 1 - 2) A Mexican and Mexican-American celebration of dead ancestors. Feast day of St Eustachius Feast day of St George of Vienne Feast day of St Hermes Feast day of St John Bodey Feast day of St Jorandus of Kergrist Feast day of St Justus of Trieste Feast day of St Marcian, anchoret and confessor (Winter cherry, Physalis, is today's plant, dedicated to this saint.) Feast day of St Victorinus of Pettau, bishop and martyr Shop Saints Click for Eastern Orthodox liturgical days The Rhyne Toll, Chetwode Manor (Oct 30 - Nov 7) The coronation of Haile Selassie (1930) Celebrated by the Rastafari movement. Kitano Odori, Kyoto, Japan (Nov 1 - 15) Bamboches for guédé mystères, Voudon (Nov 1 - 2) The dead who come out of the cemeteries, possess their "horses", and come into the oum´phors to amuse themselves in the form of souls incarnated or reincarnated; Voudon (Voodoo).   Source First Tuesday after the first Monday in November: US election day An optional holiday in 23 of the 50 states, in years of general and presidential elections. Admission day (1889) of North Dakota and South Dakota as 39th and 40th states, USA       On which day of the week were you born? Find out here 1667 James Sobieski (d. 1737), Crown Prince of Poland 1699 Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin (d. 1779), French painter 1734 Daniel Boone (d. 1820), American pioneer and hunter whose frontier exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the USA. Boone was born on October 22, 1734. Because the Gregorian calendar was adopted during Boone's lifetime, his birth date is sometimes given as November 2, 1734 (the 'New Style' date), although Boone used the October date. John Filson's 'The Adventures of Colonel Daniel Boon', part of his book The Discovery, Settlement And present State of Kentucke (1784), established Boone as one of the first popular heroes of the USA. Folklore has it that when he met his wife-to-be, Rebecca Bryan, he thought she was a deer in the dark woods, but couldn't shoot her because he had never seen a deer with blue eyes before. He tracked her to her home and was smitten when he saw her. He continued to follow Rebecca around until she consented to marry him. 1739 Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf (d. 1799), composer 1755 Marie Antoinette (d. 1793), Queen of France, wife of King Louis XVI "Marie Antoinette, born in Vienna, Austria (1755). At age 15 she was married to the crowned prince of France, who became King Louis XVI four years later. He was quiet and kept a low profile, but she was outgoing and flamboyant, and people came to resent her extravagant ways. She tended to do her own thing with her friends, and thereby alienated a lot of the people in the court. They distributed satirical pamphlets criticizing her as immoral and wasteful. Antoinette supported the Old Regime when the French Revolution began, and when the National Convention established the First French Republic in 1792, she and the King were imprisoned. On October 16, 1793, she was executed on the guillotine."   Source 1795 James Knox Polk (d. 1849), 11th President of the United States 1815 George Boole, mathematician and philosopher. As the inventor of Boolean algebra, which is the basis of all modern computer arithmetic, Boole is regarded in hindsight as one of the founders of the field of computer science, although computers did not exist in his day. 1844 Mehmed V (d. 1918), Sultan of the Ottoman Empire 1865 Warren G Harding (d. August 2, 1923), 29th President of the United States 1877 Aga Khan III (Sultan Mahommed Shah; d. July 11, 1957), Muslim chief, stupendously rich 48th Imam of the Ismailis, descendant of the Prophet Mohammed, grandson of the Shah of Persia, and president of the League of Nations. Khan was president of the All-India Muslim League and an important player in the London Round Table Conferences on Indian constitutional reform in the early 1930s. He was also an owner of thoroughbred racing horses, including five winners of the Epsom Derby. His "followers weighed him in public, once on his golden jubilee (1936), when they gave him his weight in gold, and once on his diamond jubilee (1946), when they gave him his weight in diamonds. (He presented both gifts to charitable and public works.)" (Source) Mark Twain met him in 1895 and described him as "a most courteous and charming gentleman", who "wears his immense honors with tranquil grace, and with a dignity proper to his awful calling". 1894 Alexander Lippisch (d. 1976), German aerodynamicist 1913 Burt Lancaster (d. October 20, 1994), American actor (From Here to Eternity; Elmer Gantry; Birdman of Alcatraz), voted the 39th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly. His production company, Hecht-Hill-Lancaster produced the such films as Paddy Chayefsky's Marty (Oscar winner, 1955). "Known for his liberal political sympathies, he was one of the Hollywood movie stars, along with Marlon Brando, Sammy Davis Jr., Charlton Heston, Sydney Poitier and Paul Newman, who participated in Martin Luther King, Jr.'s March on Washington in August 1963."   Source 1914 Ray Walston (d. 2001), actor 1927 Steve Ditko, artist 1929 Muhammad Rafiq Tarar, former President of Pakistan 1938 Pat Buchanan, journalist, politician 1942 Shere Hite, author 1942 Stefanie Powers, actress 1944 Keith Emerson, British keyboard player and composer. Formerly a member of The Nice, he went on to start Emerson Lake and Palmer (ELP), one of the first supergroups, in 1970. 1946 Giuseppe Sinopoli (d. 2001), Italian conductor and composer 1961 kd lang (Kathryn Dawn Lang), Canadian singer and songwriter 1965 Shah Rukh Khan, actor 1991 Victoria Climbié (d. 2000), murder victim   Phew!! Have a rest before the big This day in history section Send a free e-card to friends and family for today's celebrations and any topic Do you forget birthdays and anniversaries? Schedule your cards to be sent during the coming year. Zodiac birthday Free astrology e-cards Diwali [ Varies ] Birthdays All Saints' Day [ Nov 1 ] Guy Fawkes Day [ Nov 5 ] Varies Full Moon Day Varies Friday the 13th Varies Buddhist e-cards Varies Christian e-cards Varies Hindu e-cards Varies Jewish e-cards Varies Muslim e-cards Varies Pagan e-cards Varies Peace e-cards Varies Friendship e-cards Varies Bhai Dooj Varies Eid ul-Fitr Varies Hari Raya Varies Sukkot Varies Navratri Varies Karva Chauth Varies Simchat Torah Varies Durga Puja Varies Daylight Saving Time Begins / Ends   November 1 All Saints' Day 1 Nutty Pecan Day 1 Play A Game Of Chess Day 1 World Vegan Day 1 Authors Day 1 Cake Appreciation Day 2 All Souls Day 2 "Practice Being Psychic" Day 2 Deviled Egg Day 2 Piggy Bank Day 2 Admission Day (North Dakota, USA) 3 Sandwich Day 3 Tunnel Day 3 Independence Day (Panama) 4 Candy Day 4 King Tut Day 4 Mule Day (Georgia) 4 Deer Festival (Georgia) 4 Flag Day (Panama) 5 Guy Fawkes Day 5 Doughnut Day 5 Guru Nanak's Birthday 6 Halfway Point Of Autumn 6 Peanut Butter Lover's Day 6 I Love Nachos Day 6 Saxophone Day 7 Hug A Bear Day 7 Bittersweet Chocolate With Almonds Day 7 Republican Elephant Day (USA) 8 I Hate To Cook Day 8 Abet And Aid Punsters Day 8 Harvey Wallbanger Day 8 X-ray Discovery Day 8 Young Readers Day 8 Election Day 8 Parents As Teachers Day 9 Neon Sign Day 9 Cake Appreciation Day 9 Parade Day, USA 9 Mariachi Night (California, USA) 10 Forget Me Not Day 10 USMC Birthday 10 Toothpaste Day 10 Headache Day ... 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   676 Donus became Pope.   1648 In the Cossacks' Uprising, 12,000 Jews were massacred by Chmielnicki's hordes in Narol, the Ukraine. Under the leadership of Bogdan Zinovi Chmielnicki (c. 1595 - August 6, 1657), Cossacks (Russ. Kazak; plural, Kazaki, from the Turkish quzzaq, 'adventurer, free-booter') from what is now the eastern Ukraine cruelly killed Jews and Catholics alike in raids. Chmielnicki was born in Chigirin, in the Ukraine, and educated by Jesuits. However, unlike many of their other pupils, Chmielnicki did not embrace Roman Catholicism, but early in life became a champion of the Greek Orthodox faith, to which most of the Cossacks and the Little-Russian peasants belonged. He was a relatively poor but very ambitious Polish nobleman who in his action was, to a great extent, motivated by revenge for an outrage suffered at the hands of a dignitary of the Polish Crown, who abducted his wife and burned his manor. Telling his people that the Poles had sold them as slaves "into the hands of the accursed Jews", Chmielnicki  incited the Cossacks who took these words as their battle-cry. During 1648-1649 they went on a rampage with cruelties as the world had seldom witnessed, massacring at least a hundred thousand Jews, with some estimates going well over 600,000. "The total number of [Jewish] victims will never be known for sure, since the killing machine wasn't efficient enough yet in those days to compile statistics – but estimates range between 100,000 and 670,000 dead."   Source The Polish troops, especially those under Jeremiah Wishnevetzki, subdued the Cossacks here and there, but they were unable to put down the rebellion. Two historic enemies of Poland joined Chmielnicki: the Crimean Tartars and the Turks. Those Jews who fell into Turkish hands were 'only' carried away on ships to be sold as slaves in Constantinople and Salonika, where the Sephardic communities later came to their rescue and redeemed them from captivity. However, those Jews who fell into the clutches of the Cossacks themselves were doomed. The Cossacks massacred Jews with grisly tortures that read like a manual for Adolph Hitler. Astonishingly, there are modern historical accounts that view Chmielnicki as a Ukrainian national hero. In August, 1649, after a series of battles unfavourable to the Poles, a treaty of peace was concluded at Zborowo, between John Casimir and Chmielnicki, with a clause forbidding the Jews to live in the Ukraine.   1772 American Revolutionary War: Samuel Adams and Joseph Warren formed the first Committee of Correspondence. 1783 In Rocky Hill, New Jersey, US General George Washington gave his 'Farewell Address to the Army'. 1810 The US established free trade with France. 1817 The Bank of Montreal, Canada's oldest chartered bank, opened in Montreal, Quebec. 1861 American Civil War: Western Department Union General John C Frémont was relieved of command and replaced by David Hunter. 1868 Time zone: New Zealand officially adopted a standard time to be observed nationally, becoming perhaps the first country to do so. 1885 "Nov. 02, 1885 Scutari (Turkey). A luminous object circled the harbor. Altitude: 5-6 m. Illuminated the whole town. Duration: 1 1/2 min, as a bluish-green flame. Then plunged into the sea. Made several circles above the ferry-boat pier. (LDLN 48; Anatomy 14)"   Source 1889 American suffragettes Susan B Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton were stopped while trying to vote in the US national election. Shop Suffragettes    A world chronology of women's suffrage 1889 North and South Dakota were admitted as the 39th and 40th US states. 1899 Anglo-Boer War, South Africa: Boers (Afrikaaners) began the Siege of Ladysmith. 1903 The Daily Mirror was first published in Britain, marketed as a women's newspaper. 1903 Manly (a northern beach suburb of Sydney, Australia) Council rescinded the by-law prohibiting "bathing" (as swimming was often referred to then) in the ocean after 7am. Council passed another by-law allowing people to go swimming at any time of day, provided the bathers over eight years of age wore neck-to-knee costumes. (See October 2, 1902, William Gocher.) 1917 Zionism: The Balfour Declaration proclaimed British support for Jewish settlement in Palestine, bringing closer to reality a homeland for the Jews in Palestine. 1920 In the United States, KDKA of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania started broadcasting as the first commercial radio station. The first broadcast was the results of the US presidential election, 1920. 1930 Haile Selassie (Ras Tafari) was crowned emperor of Ethiopia. 1936 The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation was established. 1936 The world's first regular high-definition (405-line) TV service was inaugurated by the BBC, Britain.   1942 World War II, Pacific War: Australian forces recaptured Kokoda, New Guinea, driving the Japanese forces back and helping to secure Australia from Japanese invasion. While withdrawing with his troops across the Kumusi River to the beachheads, Japanese Major-General Horii was swept away by the fierce current of the river and drowned.   The 'running rabbits' incident (from Wikipedia) After the fighting withdrawal and the relief of the 21st Brigade by the 25th Brigade, General Thomas Blamey visited the remnants of Maroubra Force near base camp outside Port Moresby. He relieved Brigadier Potts of his command, citing Potts's failure to hold back the Japanese despite commanding "superior forces" and, despite explicit orders to the contrary, Potts's failure to launch an offensive to re-take Kokoda. Blamey replaced Potts with Brigadier Ivan Dougherty who was to command 21st Brigade until the end of the war. Later, Blamey addressed the men of the 21st Brigade. Drawn up to attention on the parade ground to listen to Blamey's speech, the men of Maroubra Force expected congratulations for their strenuous efforts holding back the Japanese. However upon mounting the podium, Blamey began at once to upbraid the gathered men. He informed them that they had been "beaten" by inferior forces and that "no soldier should be afraid to die". "Remember," Blamey was reported to say, "it's the running rabbit that gets shot, not the man holding the gun!" Men broke ranks almost at once, shouting at and jeering the Australian commander-in-chief, who seemed quite startled and bemused that mere soldiers would dare insult their commander-in-chief. Only the discipline of the officers and senior NCOs managed to quiet the restive soldiers and prevent the first ever collective mutiny in the Australian Army. Later that day during the march-past parade many disobeyed the "eyes-right" order. In a later letter to his wife, an enraged Brigadier Potts swore to "fry his [Blamey's] soul" for Blamey's unworthy act. General Blamey subsequently visited the wounded of Maroubra Force in the camp hospital. However, enterprising nurses had smuggled in lettuce leaves which wounded soldiers proceeded to nibble on in front of Blamey, wrinkling their noses while whispering "run, rabbit, run!".     Many a mother in Australia when the busy day is done. Sends a prayer to the Almighty for the keeping of her son. Asking that an angel guide him and bring him safely back. Now we see those prayers are answered on the Owen Stanley Track. For they haven't any halos only holes slashed in their ears And their faces worked by tattoos with scratch pins in their hair. Bringing back the badly wounded just as steady as a horse. Using leaves to keep the rain off and as gentle as a nurse. Slow and careful in the bad places on the awful mountain track. They look upon their faces would make you think Christ was black Not a move to hurt the wounded as they treat him like a saint It's a picture worth recording that an artist's yet to paint Many a lad will see his mother and husbands see their wives Just because the fuzzy wuzzy carried them to save their lives From mortar bombs and machine gun fire or chance surprise attacks To the safety and the care of doctors at the bottom of the track May the mothers of Australia when they offer up a prayer Mention those impromptu angels with their fuzzy wuzzy hair. Contemporary poem by Australian digger, Bert Beros Who were the 'Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels'? (pictured above)    More    The Kokoda Campaign     1947 In California, designer Howard Hughes performed the maiden flight of the Spruce Goose; the largest fixed-wing aircraft ever built (flight lasted only eight minutes). 1948 US presidential election, 1948: Harry S Truman defeated Thomas E Dewey for the US presidency. 1950 Death of George Bernard Shaw (b. 1856), Irish writer. 1953 Pakistan announced that it would adopt Islamic law. 1957 Elvis Presley set an all-time record with eight simultaneous Top 30 records in the UK. Shop Elvis 1959 Quiz show scandals: Twenty One game show contestant Charles Van Doren admitted to a Congressional committee that he had been given questions and answers in advance. The true story formed the basis of one of the best movies your almanackist has seen, Quiz Show (1994), directed by Robert Redford. 1960 Penguin Books was found not guilty of obscenity in the Lady Chatterley's Lover case. 1961 Death of James Thurber (b.1894), American humorist. 1963 South Vietnamese President Ngo Dihn Diem was assassinated following a military coup. 1963 American archaeologists discovered evidence that the Vikings were in the Americas some 500 years before Columbus. Vinland Map    And more Vinland Map 1964 King Saud of Saudi Arabia was deposed by a family coup, and replaced by his half-brother King Faisal. 1966 The Cuban Adjustment Act came into force, allowing 123,000 Cubans the opportunity to apply for permanent residence in the United States. 1967 Vietnam War: US President Lyndon B Johnson held a secret meeting with a group of the nation's most prestigious leaders ('the Wise Men') and asked them to suggest ways to unite the American people behind the war effort. They concluded that the American people should be given more optimistic reports on the progress of the war. 1969 The Beatles' Abbey Road album reached No. 1 in the USA and stayed there for eleven weeks. 1976 US presidential election, 1976: Jimmy Carter defeated incumbent Gerald Ford to become first candidate from deep south to win since the Civil War. 1983 Martin Luther King Day: At the White House Rose Garden, US President Ronald Reagan signed a bill creating a federal holiday on the third Monday of every January to honour American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. 1984 Capital punishment: Velma Barfield became the first woman executed in the United States since 1962. 1987 "On November 2, about 80 kilometres from Krasnovodsk in Turkmeniya, a UFO approximately 290 meters in diameter had landed on the water of the Caspian sea. The UFO then exploded and there was almost nothing left of it apart from an oil slick in the sea."   Source 1988 The Morris worm, the first Internet-distributed computer worm to gain significant mainstream media attention, was launched from within MIT. "A computer 'worm' unleashed by a Cornell University graduate student, Robert T. Morris, began replicating wildly, clogging thousands of computers around the country. Intended as an experimental, self-replicating, self-propagating program, Morris soon discovered that the program was infecting machines at a much faster rate than he had anticipated. Computers were affected at many universities, military sites, and medical research facilities. When Morris realized what was happening he sent an anonymous message, instructing programmers how to kill the worm and prevent reinfection. However, because the network route was clogged, this message did not get through until it was too late. Morris, was later tried, fined and given probation."    Source 1990 Ivana Trump filed for divorce from Donald Trump. 1991 Bartholomew I became the Patriarch of Constantinople, the 'first among equals' in the Eastern Orthodox Communion. 1999 USA: The FBI released its report on Project Megiddo.   On October 20, 1999, "The FBI announced a report called 'Project Megiddo'. It is intended to alert U.S. law enforcement to what they describe is 'the potential for extremist criminal activity in the United States by individuals or domestic groups who attach special significance to the year 2000.' An accompanying FBI statement mentioned that 'The threat posed by extremists as a result of perceived events associated with the Year 2000 (Y2K) is very real. The volatile mix of apocalyptic religious and (New World Order) conspiracy theories may produce violent acts aimed a precipitating the end of the world as prophesied in the Bible ...' Their concept is that by creating widespread instances massive destruction, violence, and death, that the end of the world will be precipitated. This is not a new phenomenon within Christianity. Very similar beliefs were held during the time of the Roman Empire."   Source Should we Know More About Project Megiddo? 2000 The first crew arrived at the International Space Station. 2001 Monsters, Inc. debuted in the USA with the best ticket sales ever for an animated film and the sixth best of all movies. 2004 Munster Vs Monster: US Presidential Election between Senator John Kerry and President George W Bush.   Tomorrow: Ignatius Donnelly, America's oddest Congressman    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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