Month: August 2020

The Thing About Today – August 24

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

August 24, 2020
Day 237 of 366

 

August 24th is the 237th day of the year. It is Den’ Nezalezhnosti in Ukraine, which celebrates the country’s independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. It is also the observance of Willka Raymi (in the Quechua language, literally the feast of the god) which is celebrated in the Cusco Region in Peru. It is the representation of the traditional offering ceremony to Pachamama.

 

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Maryland Day, National Peach Pie Day, and National Waffle Day.

 

Historical items of note:

  • In 1662, the Act of Uniformity came into effect, requiring England to accept the Book of Common Prayer.
  • In 1814, British troops invaded Washington, D.C. During the Burning of Washington, the White House, the Capitol, and many other buildings were set ablaze.
  • In 1891, Thomas Edison patented the motion picture camera.
  • In 1932, Amelia Earhart flew from Los Angeles, California to Newark, New Jersey, becoming the first woman to fly across the United States non-stop.
  • In 1934, actor Kenny Baker was born. He would be the man in the can as R2-D2 in the Star Wars films.
  • In 1949, the treaty creating the North Atlantic Treaty Organization went into effect.
  • In 1950, Edith Sampson became the first black delegate from the United States to the United Nations.
  • In 1957, actor, journalist, producer, and screenwriter Stephen Fry was born.
  • In 1958, actor and producer Steve Guttenberg was born.
  • In 1963, Japanese director, screenwriter, video game designer, and video game producer Hideo Kojima was born.
  • In 1965, actress Marlee Matlin was born.
  • In 1972, director and screenwriter Ava DuVernay was born.
  • In 1974, actress Jennifer Lien was born.
  • In 1981, Mark David Chapman was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison for murdering John Lennon.
  • In 1988, actor Rupert Grint was born.
  • In 1995, Microsoft Windows 95 was released to the public in North America.
  • In 1998, the first radio-frequency identification (RFID) human implantation testing occurred in the United Kingdom.
  • In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) redefined the term “planet”. As a result, Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet.

 

August 24th is International Strange Music Day, a creation of musician Patrick Grant.

Patrick Grant, a Detroit-born American composer living and working in New York City, works with a synthesis of classical, popular, and world musical styles. His work has been showcased in concert halls, film, theater, dance, and visual media, and has moved from post-punk and classically bent post-minimal styles, arcing through Balinese-inspired gamelan and microtonality, to ambient, electronic soundscapes involving many layers of acoustic and electronically amplified instruments.

Known as a producer and co-producer of live musical events, he has presented many concerts of his own and other composers, including a 2013 Guinness World Record-breaking performance of 175 electronic keyboards in New York City.

 

The Thing About Today is an effort to look at each day of 2020 with respect to its historical context.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

 

 

The Thing About Today – August 23

Michael Falkner1 Comment

August 23, 2020
Day 236 of 366

 

August 23rd is the 236th day of the year. It is the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition, a UNESCO observance used to memorialize the transatlantic slave trade and its victims. The date was chosen to honor the 1791 uprising in Haiti (then known as Saint Domingue) which started a series of events leading to the trade’s abolition.

 

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Ride The Wind Day and National Sponge Cake Day.

 

Historical items of note:

  • In 1305, Sir William Wallace was executed for high treason at Smithfield, London. He was a Scottish knight who became one of the main leaders during the First War of Scottish Independence.
  • In 1775, King George III delivered his Proclamation of Rebellion to the Court of St James’s stating that the American colonies have proceeded to a state of open and avowed rebellion.
  • In 1784, western North Carolina (now eastern Tennessee) declared itself an independent state under the name of Franklin. It was not accepted into the United States and only lasted for four years.
  • In 1904, the automobile tire chain was patented.
  • In 1912, actor, singer, and dancer Gene Kelly was born.
  • In 1923, Captain Lowell Smith and Lieutenant John P. Richter performed the first mid-air refueling on De Havilland DH-4B, setting an endurance flight record of 37 hours.
  • In 1931, actress and singer Barbara Eden was born. She is probably best known from her starring role in the sitcom I Dream of Jeannie.
  • In 1949, actress Shelley Long was born.
  • In 1961, French composer and conductor Alexandre Desplat was born.
  • In 1966, Lunar Orbiter 1 took the first photograph of Earth from orbit around the Moon.
  • In 1970, actor River Phoenix was born.
  • In 1973, the Norrmalmstorg bank robbery took place in Stockholm, Sweden. It turned into a hostage crisis and, over the next five days, the hostages began to sympathize with their captors. This led to the term “Stockholm syndrome”.
  • In 1990, West and East Germany announced that they would reunite on October 3rd.
  • In 1991, the World Wide Web was opened to the public.
  • In 1994, Eugene Bullard, the only African American pilot in World War I, was posthumously commissioned as Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force.

 

August 23rd is the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism, also known as Black Ribbon Day, in the European Union and other countries.

It is an international day of remembrance for victims of totalitarian regimes, specifically Stalinist, communist, Nazi, and fascist regimes. It represents the rejection of extremism, intolerance, and oppression, and is one of the official remembrance days of the European Union. As Black Ribbon Day, it is also an official remembrance day of Canada, the United States, and several other countries.

Originating from protests in western countries against the Soviet Union, especially in the years leading up to the Revolutions of 1989 and the Baltic Way, which was a major demonstration against the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states in 1989. The observance was proposed as an official European remembrance day by Václav Havel, Joachim Gauck, and a group of freedom fighters and former political prisoners from Central and Eastern Europe during a conference organized by the Czech Government. It was formally designated by the European Parliament in 2008 and has been observed in the European Union since 2009.

The date of August 23rd was chosen to coincide with the date of the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, a 1939 non-aggression pact between the USSR and Nazi Germany that contained a protocol dividing Romania, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland into designated German and Soviet spheres of influence. That pact was described by the European Parliament’s president Jerzy Buzek in 2010 as “the collusion of the two worst forms of totalitarianism in the history of humanity.”

A related observance takes place in Romania, known as Liberation from Fascist Occupation Day. It commemorates King Michael’s Coup, a coup d’état led by King Michael I during World War II. With the support of several political parties, the king removed the government of Ion Antonescu, which had aligned Romania with Nazi Germany, after the Axis front in northeastern Romania collapsed in the face of a successful Soviet offensive.

The Romanian Army declared a unilateral ceasefire with the Soviet Red Army on the Moldavian front, which was a decisive event in the Allied advances against the Axis powers in the European theatre. The coup was supported by the Romanian Communist Party, the Social Democratic Party, the National Liberal Party, and the National Peasants’ Party, all of whom had coalesced into the National Democratic Bloc in June of 1944.

August 23rd is a day to remember the victims of totalitarianism and to stand up against fascism wherever it may exist.

 

The Thing About Today is an effort to look at each day of 2020 with respect to its historical context.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

 

 

The Thing About Today – August 22

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August 22, 2020
Day 235 of 366

 

August 22nd is the 235th day of the year. It is Flag Day in Russia.

 

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Surgical Oncologist Day, National Be An Angel Day, National Bao Day, Never Bean Better Day National Tooth Fairy Day, and National Pecan Torte Day.

 

Historical items of note:

  • In 1642, Charles I raised his standard in Nottingham, which marked the beginning of the English Civil War.
  • In 1780, James Cook’s ship HMS Resolution returned to England. Cook himself was killed in Hawaii during the voyage.
  • In 1791, the Haitian Slave Revolution began in Saint-Domingue, Haiti.
  • In 1851, the first America’s Cup was won by the yacht America.
  • In 1862, French pianist and composer Claude Debussy was born.
  • In 1902, the Cadillac Motor Company was founded.
  • Also in 1902, Theodore Roosevelt became the first President of the United States to make a public appearance in an automobile.
  • In 1920, science fiction writer and screenwriter Ray Bradbury was born.
  • In 1925, actress Honor Blackman was born.
  • In 1922, Michael Collins, Commander-in-chief of the Irish Free State Army, was shot dead in an ambush during the Irish Civil War.
  • In 1932, the BBC began experimental regular TV broadcasts. It seems to have turned out well.
  • In 1963, singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer Tori Amos was born.
  • In 1973, actress, comedian, and screenwriter Kristen Wiig was born.
  • In 1978, the District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment was passed by the United States Congress. The proposed amendment would have provided the District of Columbia with full voting representation in the Congress, the Electoral College, and regarding amending the Constitution. The proposed amendment failed to be ratified by enough states (ratified by 16, but needed 38) and failed to become part of the Constitution.
  • In 2004, versions of The Scream and Madonna, two paintings by Edvard Munch, were stolen at gunpoint from a museum in Oslo, Norway.
  • In 2006, Grigori Perelman was awarded the Fields Medal for his proof of the Poincaré conjecture in mathematics but refused to accept the medal.

 

In 1639, Madras (now known as Chennai), India was founded by the British East India Company on a sliver of land bought from local Nayak rulers.

Madras is the capital of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, and is one of the largest cultural, economic, and educational centers of south India. In 2011, it was the sixth-most populous city and fourth-most populous urban agglomeration in India, and (together with the adjoining regions) constitutes the Chennai Metropolitan Area, which is the 36th-largest urban area by population in the world.

Madras Day is a festival organized to commemorate the founding of the city. The celebration focuses on the city, its history, its past and its present. The celebration consists of events such as heritage walks, public talks, exhibitions, poetry reading sessions, public performances, food festivals, and special programs on local radio.

 

The Thing About Today is an effort to look at each day of 2020 with respect to its historical context.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

 

 

The Thing About Today – August 21

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

August 21, 2020
Day 234 of 366

 

August 21st is the 234th day of the year. It is Youth Day in Morocco and National Senior Citizens Day in the United States.

 

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Brazilian Blowout Day and National Spumoni Day.

 

Historical items of note:

  • In 1754, Scottish engineer and inventor William Murdoch was born. He created gas lighting.
  • In 1831, Nat Turner led black slaves and free blacks in a rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia. The rebellion claimed the lives of 55 to 65 whites and about twice that number of blacks.
  • In 1888, the first successful adding machine in the United States was patented by William Seward Burroughs.
  • In 1897, the American automobile manufacturer and marque of Oldsmobile was founded.
  • In 1904, pianist, composer, and bandleader Count Basie was born.
  • In 1906, animator, director, and producer Fritz Freleng was born.
  • In 1911, the Mona Lisa was stolen by Vincenzo Peruggia, a Louvre employee.
  • In 1942, Disney’s Bambi was released. It was based on the book by Felix Salten.
  • In 1945, physicist Harry Daghlian was fatally irradiated in a criticality accident during an experiment with the Demon core at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The Demon core was a spherical 6.2-kilogram subcritical mass of plutonium manufactured during World War II by the Manhattan Project as a fissile core for an early atomic bomb. It got its name as a result of two supercriticality accidents.
  • Also in 1945, Greek-American composer and conductor Basil Poledouris was born.
  • In 1956, English-Canadian actress Kim Cattrall was born.
  • In 1959, United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed an executive order proclaiming Hawaii as the 50th state of the Union. Hawaii’s admission is currently commemorated by Hawaii Admission Day.
  • In 1961, American country music singer Patsy Cline returned to record producer Owen Bradley’s studio in Nashville, Tennessee to record her vocals to Willie Nelson’s “Crazy”. It became her signature song.
  • Also in 1961, Motown released what would become its first #1 hit in America: “Please Mr. Postman” by The Marvelettes.
  • In 1967, Canadian actress Carrie-Anne Moss was born.
  • In 1968, James Anderson Jr. was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. It was the first to be awarded to an African American United States Marine.
  • In 1987, Dirty Dancing was released.
  • In 1989, actress Hayden Panettiere was born.

 

In 1983, Philippine opposition leader Benigno Aquino, Jr. was assassinated at the Manila International Airport.

He was the husband of Corazon Aquino, who later became the Philippine President. They are both treated as two of the heroes of democracy in the country for their fight against oppression of their people. His assassination led to the downfall of Ferdinand Marcos on February 25, 1986, through the People Power Revolution. In 2004, the commemoration ceremony for the holiday was held and events were attended by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Fidel V. Ramos.

The site of his assassination was renamed Ninoy Aquino International Airport in his honor.

 

The Thing About Today is an effort to look at each day of 2020 with respect to its historical context.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

 

 

The Thing About Today – August 20

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

August 20, 2020
Day 233 of 366

 

August 20th is the 233rd day of the year. It is World Mosquito Day, which is a commemoration of British doctor Sir Ronald Ross’s discovery in 1897 that female mosquitoes transmit malaria between humans.

 

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Radio Day and National Chocolate Pecan Pie Day.

 

Historical items of note:

  • In 1775, the Spanish established the Presidio San Augustin del Tucson in the town that became Tucson, Arizona.
  • In 1858, Charles Darwin first published his theory of evolution through natural selection in The Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London, alongside Alfred Russel Wallace’s same theory.
  • In 1866, United States President Andrew Johnson formally declared the American Civil War over.
  • In 1882, Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture debuted in Moscow, Russia.
  • In 1890, short story writer, editor, novelist H. P. Lovecraft was born. His work was revolutionary in science fiction and horror, but his personal beliefs contained significant amounts of racism, homophobia, misogyny, and general parochialism.
  • In 1920, the first commercial radio station, 8MK (now known as WWJ), began operations in Detroit, Michigan.
  • In 1926, Japan’s public broadcasting company, Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai (NHK) was established.
  • In 1932, actor Anthony Ainley was born. He was the second actor to portray the Master in a recurring role on Doctor Who.
  • In 1943, Scottish actor Sylvester McCoy was born. He portrayed the Seventh Doctor on Doctor Who.
  • In 1946, journalist Connie Chung was born.
  • In 1948, Australian actor John Noble was born.
  • In 1962, The NS Savannah, the world’s first nuclear-powered civilian ship, embarked on its maiden voyage. Savannah was deactivated in 1971 and has been moored at Pier 13 of the Canton Marine Terminal in Baltimore, Maryland, since 2008.
  • Also in 1962, actor and singer James Marsters was born.
  • In 1974, actress and singer Amy Adams was born.
  • In 1975, NASA launched the Viking 1 planetary probe toward Mars.
  • In 1977, NASA launched the Voyager 2 spacecraft.
  • In 1983, actor Andrew Garfield was born.
  • In 1998, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Quebec cannot legally secede from Canada without the federal government’s approval.

 

August 20th is Akshay Urja Diwas (Akshay Urja Day), an awareness campaign about the developments in renewable energy in India.

The Indian Ministry for New & Renewable Energy Sources began Akshay Urja Day to commemorate the birthday of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. The Ministry promotes innovation to adopt renewable energy sources to produce power for the electricity grid, and for several standalone applications, as well as decentralized power production.

 

The Thing About Today is an effort to look at each day of 2020 with respect to its historical context.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

 

 

Timestamp #TW28: Children of Earth – Day Two

Michael Falkner4 Comments

Torchwood: Children of Earth – Day Two
(1 episode, s03e02, 2009)

 

The band is on the run and the Hub has been destroyed.

All that’s left is a giant crater in Roald Dahl Plass. As Gwen stumbles to her feet, an emergency response team pulls her away from the flames and loads her into an ambulance. This team is not your standard emergency response but rather an assassination squad. Gwen bites and shoots her way free before hijacking the ambulance.

Meanwhile, Ianto pulls himself out of the rubble and runs from a sniper as the police arrive, complete with Andy Davidson and a defense of Gwen’s character. Agent Johnson calls Frobisher and reports that the job is one-third of the way done, then takes Davidson to raid Gwen’s home. Frobisher also receives some information about a mysterious device and the 456.

Gwen stops the ambulance and interrogates one of the surviving assassins, learning that the government as ordered the destruction of Torchwood. Gwen rushes home, wakes up Rhys, and unceremoniously tries to usher him to safety. Ianto makes contact while Rhys gets dressed, and Gwen rushes away, shooting out Johnson’s tires before escaping.

Government forces also storm the Davies household in a search for Ianto, but he’s one the streets elsewhere. Gwen and Rhys end up dumping their car since the license plates are trackable.

As morning dawns, Frobisher tries to patch up relations with his family before heading to work. At Home Office, Lois Habiba does some more digging while Frobisher briefs the Prime Minister about Jack and the 456 device. The 456 have only directly contacted Britain. Lois tries to ask Frobisher if Jack can help, but she’s chided for her efforts.

Jack’s daughter tries contacting him without success. We also discover that Timothy White has survived and is on the run.

At what’s left of the Hub, recovery teams find an arm, a shoulder, and a head. They take to a warehouse in London while Ianto watches from a nearby rooftop. In the warehouse, the remaining pieces of Jack’s body start a gruesome and extreme resurrection sequence. He goes from a skeleton to a blind, screaming burn victim. Johnson reports this to Frobisher as gets ready to check on Mr. Dekker’s progress with the 456 device.

Gwen and Rhys find that their accounts have been frozen, so they take their fight to London by stowing away on a food delivery lorry. During the trip, Gwen finds the right way to tell Rhys about their pregnancy, leading to mixed emotions of joy and anxiety given their current situation.

Meanwhile, Ianto’s family receives a card in their newspaper, which is a covert request for Rhiannon to bring him supplies. Johnny runs a distraction while Rhiannon sneaks away, and when she makes contact, she’s happy to see him but upset about his condition. During this meeting, the children stop again.

In unison: “We are coming tomorrow.”

Timothy White is particularly upset about this revelation.

Ianto takes the laptop and Rhiannon’s car in his pursuit of the ambulance that took Jack. At Home Office, Gwen Cooper tries to make contact with Frobisher but ends up finding an ally in Lois. The women covertly set up a meeting, though Gwen was clearly expecting Frobisher instead of the new hire. Luckily, Lois is a much friendlier face, and she bears news of the kill order. Lois doesn’t like covering up murders.

Jack has finished his resurrection. He demands to see the man in charge but instead meets Agent Johnson before being sealed in concrete while Ianto watches from afar. Meanwhile, Gwen and Rhys use the information provided by Lois to sneak into a secure compound as funeral directors to retrieve Rupesh Patanjali’s body. This takes them into the lion’s den, and Rhys almost blows their cover when their contact, Corporal “Kodak” Camara, flirts with Gwen. Luckily, Camara’s a bit thick. He also hits the deck nicely when Gwen sucker punches him.

Unfortunately, as Gwen disables the cameras, the alarms are sounded and the couple is surrounded by Johnson’s forces just as they discover the concrete cell. They find an escape route when Ianto uses heavy machinery to rip the makeshift sarcophagus from the building. Gwen provides an explosive exit and Johnson reports her failure to Frobisher. The man is not pleased.

Ianto stops the machine at the edge of a large quarry and drops the sarcophagus over the edge. The concrete shatters and frees Jack’s body. He comes back to life once again and is reunited with his Torchwood family.

Frobisher, Spears, and the Prime Minister observe the device’s construction. It ends up being a tank of some sort. Later that night, the tank is flooded with a gas mixture that is poisonous to humans. Bridget wants to investigate the 456, but Frobisher tells her that they don’t have time. The 456 will be arriving tomorrow.

Frobisher and Spears leave as Dekker embraces the tank with an unnatural sense of welcoming anticipation.

 

It’s under extreme pressure where Torchwood works best, and this is no exception. Watching the team play to their strengths without the guidance of Jack Harkness behind them says a lot about how well they have adapted to their roles over the last two years. The endgame, of course, was the rescue of their team’s leader in a tense action sequence that left me cheering multiple times.

I do feel bad for Jack’s daughter, Alice, who is left wondering throughout the entire episode.

This episode brings some further Torchwood mythology to bear, including snippets of how Queen Victoria created other institutions (of which the current government is unaware) and the official stance that Torchwood Two has been disbanded (but that the current government is unsure).

Finally, we get another tease of Gwen Cooper’s linage with the funeral director sequence. Gwyneth, her ancestor from The Unquiet Dead, was the servant to an undertaker.

The team dynamic and resourcefulness make this an amazing chase episode as the mysterious threat bears down on the planet Earth. They arrive next week.

 

Rating: 5/5 – “Fantastic!”

 

UP NEXT – Torchwood: Children of Earth – Day Three

 

The Timestamps Project is an adventure through the televised universe of Doctor Who, story by story, from the beginning of the franchise. For more reviews like this one, please visit the project’s page at Creative Criticality.

 

 

The Thing About Today – August 19

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

August 19, 2020
Day 232 of 366

 

August 19th is the 232nd day of the year. It is Afghan Independence Day, commemorating the Treaty of Rawalpindi in 1919 which granted Afghanistan independence from Britain.

 

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as International Bow Day, National Aviation Day, and National Soft Ice Cream Day.

 

Historical items of note:

  • In 1570, Italian Jewish violinist and composer Salamone Rossi was born.
  • In 1612, the “Samlesbury witches” were put on trial. The three women from the Lancashire village of Samlesbury, England were accused of practicing witchcraft, and the trial was one of the most famous witch trials in British history.
  • In 1812, the American frigate USS Constitution defeated the British frigate HMS Guerriere off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada. This engagement during the War of 1812 is what earned her the nickname “Old Ironsides”.
  • In 1839, the French government announced that Louis Daguerre’s photographic process was a gift “free to the world”.
  • In 1854, the First Sioux War began when United States Army soldiers killed Lakota chief Conquering Bear and in return were massacred.
  • In 1871, engineer and pilot Orville Wright was born.
  • In 1906, inventor Philo Farnsworth was born. He invented the Fusor, made many crucial contributions to the early development of all-electronic television.
  • In 1921, screenwriter and producer Gene Roddenberry was born. He is best known for developing the worlds of Star Trek.
  • In 1938, actress Diana Muldaur was born. She played multiple roles in the Star Trek universe, and inspired a catchphrase for Women at Warp: A Star Trek Roddenberry Podcast – “Never forget: Pulaski banged Riker’s dad.”
  • In 1940, model, actress, and Bond Girl Jill St. John was born.
  • In 1947, actor Gerald McRaney was born.
  • In 1952, actor and director Jonathan Frakes was born.
  • In 1960, downed American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers was sentenced to ten years imprisonment in Moscow, Russia by the Soviet Union for espionage.
  • In 1964, Syncom 3, the first geostationary communication satellite, was launched.
  • In 1965, actress and producer Kyra Sedgwick was born.

 

August 19th is World Humanitarian Day.

It is an international day dedicated to recognizing humanitarian personnel and those who have lost their lives working for humanitarian causes. It was designated by the United Nations General Assembly as part of a Swedish-sponsored resolution, honoring the day on which the then Special Representative of the Secretary-General to Iraq, Sérgio Vieira de Mello and 21 of his colleagues were killed in the bombing of the UN Headquarters in Baghdad in 2003.

A Brazilian national, Sérgio Vieira de Mello dedicated a lifetime spanning over thirty years in the United Nations, serving in some of the most challenging humanitarian situations in the world to reach the voiceless victims of armed conflict, alleviate their suffering and draw, attention to their plight. His death together with 21 colleagues shocked the humanitarian community and robbed them of one of their most outstanding humanitarian leaders and intellectuals.

 

The Thing About Today is an effort to look at each day of 2020 with respect to its historical context.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

 

 

The Thing About Today – August 18

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

August 18, 2020
Day 231 of 366

 

August 18th is the 231st day of the year. It is Long Tan Day, also known as Vietnam Veterans’ Day, in Australia. The Battle of Long Tan took place on August 18th, 1966 in a rubber plantation near Long Tân, in Phước Tuy Province, South Vietnam, and is the best known of the Australian Army’s actions in the Vietnam War.

 

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Fajita Day, National Mail Order Catalog Day, and National Ice Cream Pie Day.

 

Historical items of note:

  • In 1590, John White, the governor of the Roanoke Colony, returned from a supply trip to England and found his settlement deserted. Roanoake became known as the Lost Colony since the fate of the missing colonists has never been discovered.
  • In 1826, Major Gordon Laing became the first non-Muslim to enter Timbuktu. He was killed shortly after he departed Timbuktu, some five weeks later.
  • In 1868, French astronomer Pierre Janssen discovered helium.
  • In 1914, psychiatrist Lucy Ozarin was born. She was one of the first women psychiatrists commissioned in the Navy, and she was one of seven female Navy psychiatrists who served during World War II. She earned the rank of Lieutenant Commander in the United States Navy Reserve Medical Corps.
  • In 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, guaranteeing women’s suffrage.
  • In 1926, a weather map was televised for the first time.
  • In 1927, former First Lady of the United States Rosalynn Carter was born.
  • In 1952, actor and dancer Patrick Swayze was born.
  • In 1956, composer and conductor John Debney was born.
  • In 1958, investigations began into the television game show scandals. Two years later, the United States Congress amended the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit the fixing of quiz shows.
  • In 1961, journalist and author Bob Woodruff was born.
  • In 1963, James Meredith became the first African American to graduate from the University of Mississippi.
  • In 1967, author and illustrator Brian Michael Bendis was born.

 

In 1587, Virginia Dare was born.

The granddaughter of the aforementioned Governor John White of the Colony of Roanoke, she was the first child born to English parents in the Americas. She disappeared with the rest of the colony, but during the past four hundred years, Virginia Dare has become a prominent figure in American myth and folklore, symbolizing different things to different groups of people.

She has been featured as the main character in books, poems, songs, comic books, television programs, and films. Her name has been used to sell different types of goods, from vanilla products to soft drinks, as well as wine and spirits. Many places in North Carolina and elsewhere in the Southern United States have been named in her honor.

 

The Thing About Today is an effort to look at each day of 2020 with respect to its historical context.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

 

 

The Thing About Today – August 17

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

August 17, 2020
Day 230 of 366

 

August 17th is the 230th day of the year. It is Independence Day in Indonesia (which left Japan in 1945) and Gabon (which separated from France in 1960).

 

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Nonprofit Day, National Massachusetts Day, National I LOVE My Feet Day!, National Thrift Shop Day, and Black Cat Appreciation Day.

 

Historical items of note:

  • In 1560, the Catholic Church was overthrown and Protestantism was established as the national religion in Scotland.
  • In 1863, author and photographer Gene Stratton-Porter was born.
  • In 1882, Jewish Polish American movie producer Samuel Goldwyn was born.
  • In 1883, the first public performance was conducted of the Dominican Republic’s national anthem, Himno Nacional.
  • In 1893,  actress, playwright, and screenwriter Mae West was born.
  • In 1896, Bridget Driscoll became the first recorded case of a pedestrian killed in a collision with a motor car in the United Kingdom.
  • In 1920, Irish-American actress and singer Maureen O’Hara was born.
  • In 1943, actor, entrepreneur, director, and producer Robert De Niro was born.
  • In 1945, the novella Animal Farm by George Orwell was first published.
  • In 1946, director, producer, and screenwriter Martha Coolidge was born.
  • In 1949, English actor, director, screenwriter, and politician Julian Fellowes was born.
  • In 1953, the first meeting of Narcotics Anonymous took place in Southern California.
  • In 1958, Pioneer 0 was launched using the first Thor-Able rocket. It was America’s first attempt at lunar orbit and it failed, but it was notable as one of the first attempted launches beyond Earth orbit by any country.
  • In 1970, Venera 7 was launched. It would later become the first spacecraft to successfully transmit data from the surface of another planet. In this case, it was from Venus.
  • In 1977, the Soviet icebreaker Arktika became the first surface ship to reach the North Pole.
  • In 1998, United States President Bill Clinton admitted in taped testimony that he had an “improper physical relationship” with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Later that same day, he admitted before the nation that he “misled people” about the relationship.

 

In 1930, screenwriter and producer Harve Bennett was born.

As a young boy, Bennett appeared on the radio program Quiz Kids, which introduced him to show business, but by the time he had reached college, the radio business was in decline. As a result, he cast his eyes on the world of film and attended the film school at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Following his graduation, he joined the United States Army in 1953 and served in the Military Police Corps. He was honorably discharged two years later and began his career as a production executive at CBS and later ABC, becoming Vice President of Daytime Programming.

His first project was to develop a television series with producer Aaron Spelling called The Mod Squad. After that, he joined Universal Studios where he produced a variety of television series and miniseries. The best known of these series are probably The Six Million Dollar Man (1973–78) and The Bionic Woman (1976-78). He moved from Universal to Columbia to Paramount.

It was at Paramount where he was called to a meeting with then top executives Barry Diller and Michael Eisner, along with Charles Bluhdorn (head of Paramount’s parent Gulf+Western) to discuss the future of Star Trek after the lower than expected results of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. He agreed to produce the next film in the series, subsequently screening all 79 episodes of the original television series before settling on a sequel to the episode Space Seed.

Following the success of The Wrath of Khan, Bennett remained to produce the next three films, as well as assist on the sixth film in the series. He declined the opportunity to direct Star Trek VI, and left Paramount shortly thereafter.

Harve Bennett died on February 25, 2015, in Medford, Oregon. His death preceded Leonard Nimoy’s by two days.

 

The Thing About Today is an effort to look at each day of 2020 with respect to its historical context.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

 

 

The Thing About Today – August 16

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

August 16, 2020
Day 229 of 366

 

August 16th is the 229th day of the year. It is National Airborne Day in the United States, a day designated to honor the airborne forces of the United States military.

 

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Tell a Joke Day, National Roller Coaster Day, and National Rum Day.

 

Historical items of note:

  • In 1858, United States President James Buchanan inaugurated the new transatlantic telegraph cable by exchanging greetings with Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. A weak signal forced a shutdown of the service after a few weeks.
  • In 1888, British colonel, diplomat, writer, and archaeologist T. E. Lawrence was born.
  • In 1891, the Basilica of San Sebastian, Manila was officially inaugurated and blessed. It was the first all-steel church in Asia.
  • In 1896, Skookum Jim Mason, George Carmack, and Dawson Charlie discovered gold in a tributary of the Klondike River in Canada, setting off the Klondike Gold Rush.
  • In 1913, Tōhoku Imperial University of Japan became the first university in Japan to admit female students. The school is known today as Tohoku University.
  • In 1930, the first color sound cartoon, Fiddlesticks, was released by Ub Iwerks.
  • In 1933, actress Julie Newmar was born.
  • In 1937, actress Lorraine Gary was born.
  • In 1946, actress Lesley Ann Warren was born.
  • In 1952, actor Reginald VelJohnson was born.
  • In 1954, the first issue of Sports Illustrated was published.
  • Also in 1954, Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter James Cameron was born.
  • In 1957, actress and director Laura Innes was born.
  • In 1958, actress Angela Bassett was born.
  • In 1960, Cyprus gained its independence from the United Kingdom.
  • In 1975, Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam symbolically handed over land to the Gurindji people after the 8-year Wave Hill walk-off, a landmark event in the history of Indigenous land rights in Australia. The event was, commemorated in a 1991 song by Paul Kelly and an annual celebration.
  • Also in 1975, New Zealand director, screenwriter, and actor Taika Waititi was born.

 

August 16th is the festival of Xicolatada, a tradition in the village of Palau-de-Cerdagne in Languedoc-Roussillon, France for more than 300 years.

In Catalonia, August 15th was once a festival day, during which the locals would drink quite heavily and were hungover the next morning. To help them feel better, the village chocolatier would offer them a hot chocolate, which he claimed was an excellent remedy.

Over the years, this habit grew into a custom, and a municipal association was eventually formed to remember the tradition. This association organizes the distribution of hot chocolate every year on August 16th at precisely 11:00 am.

Today, the chocolate is brewed in large cauldrons over a wood fire. The festival draws many tourists to the village every year, and to preserve the tradition, festival organizers have created a confraternity of master chocolatiers to keep the recipe safe and secret.

 

The Thing About Today is an effort to look at each day of 2020 with respect to its historical context.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.