Author: Michael Falkner

The Thing About Today – August 28

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August 28, 2020
Day 241 of 366

 

August 28th is the 241st day of the year. It is (unofficially) National Power Rangers Day, celebrating the anniversary of the 1993 debut of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers on the Fox Kids programming block.

 

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Thoughtful Day, National Red Wine Day, National Bow Tie Day, National Cherry Turnovers Day, and Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day.

 

Historical items of note:

  • In 1565, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés sighted land near St. Augustine, Florida, and founded the oldest continuously occupied European-established city in the continental United States.
  • In 1749, German novelist, poet, playwright, and diplomat Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was born.
  • In 1789, William Herschel discovered Enceladus, a new moon of Saturn.
  • In 1845, the first issue of Scientific American magazine was published.
  • In 1859, the Carrington event struck the Earth. It was the strongest geomagnetic storm on record and widely disrupted electrical telegraph service.
  • In 1898, Caleb Bradham’s beverage “Brad’s Drink” was renamed “Pepsi-Cola”.
  • In 1917, author and illustrator Jack Kirby was born. He was one of the fathers of the modern comic book industry.
  • In 1948, author Vonda N. McIntyre was born.
  • In 1955, Black teenager Emmett Till was brutally murdered in Mississippi, thereby galvanizing the nascent civil rights movement.
  • In 1963, the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his I Have a Dream speech.
  • In 1965, Japanese video game developer and creator of Pokémon Satoshi Tajiri was born.
  • Also in 1965, singer-songwriter Shania Twain was born.
  • In 1968, singer and actor Billy Boyd was born.
  • In 1973, actor J. August Richards was born.
  • In 1993, the Galileo spacecraft discovered a moon, later named Dactyl, around asteroid 243 Ida. This marked the first known asteroid moon.
  • In 2003, actress Quvenzhané Wallis was born.

 

August 28th is National Grandparents’ Day (Día del Abuelo) in Mexico.

National Grandparents’ Day is a secular holiday celebrated in many countries around the world. It has origins in West Virginia where, in 1956, a mother named Marian McQuade was organizing a community celebration for those over 80. In her efforts, she became aware of the many nursing home residents who were forgotten by their families. She wanted a holiday to bring attention to these forgotten individuals and to honor all grandparents.

In 1973, West Virginia became the first state to have such a day, and it became a national holiday in the United States by 1978. Most of the similar observances around the world followed suit, though Poland is notable for having celebrated “Grandma’s Day” (Dzień Babci) and “Grandpa’s Day” (Dzień Dziadka) since 1964 when they were created by the Kobieta i Życie magazine.

 

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 27

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August 27, 2020
Day 240 of 366

 

August 27th is the 240th day of the year. It is Independence Day in the Republic of Moldova as they commemorate their separation from the USSR in 1991.

 

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Pots De Creme Day and National Just Because Day.

 

Historical items of note:

  • In 1832, Black Hawk, leader of the Sauk tribe of Native Americans, surrendered to United States authorities. This ended the Black Hawk War.
  • In 1845, Hungarian architect Ödön Lechner was born. He designed the Museum of Applied Arts (the third-oldest applied arts museum in the world) and the Church of St Elisabeth (the famous Blue Church in Bratislava).
  • In 1859, petroleum was discovered in Titusville, Pennsylvania. This led to the world’s first commercially successful oil well.
  • In 1899, English novelist C. S. Forester was born. He was the author of the 12-book Horatio Hornblower series depicting a Royal Navy officer during the Napoleonic wars.
  • In 1926, Norwegian computer scientist and academic Kristen Nygaard was born.
  • In 1927, the Famous Five women filed a petition to the Supreme Court of Canada, asking, “Does the word ‘Persons’ in Section 24 of the British North America Act, 1867, include female persons?”
  • In 1933, the first Afrikaans Bible was introduced during a Bible Festival in Bloemfontein.
  • In 1944, actor G W Bailey was born.
  • In 1947, actress Barbara Bach was born.
  • In 1952, actor and comedian Paul Reubens was born. You may know him better as Pee-Wee Herman.
  • In 1956, the nuclear power station at Calder Hall in the United Kingdom was connected to the national power grid, thus becoming the world’s first commercial nuclear power station to generate electricity on an industrial scale.
  • In 1962, the Mariner 2 unmanned space mission was launched to Venus by NASA.
  • In 1964, Disney’s Mary Poppins premiered.
  • In 1976, actress Sarah Chalke was born.

 

August 27th is the Day of Russian Cinema (День Российского Кино).

Similar to the rise of technological and scientific developments in the Western world at the dawn of the 20th century, Russia witnessed the birth of cinema. The first Russian film to be shown was named Понизовая вольница (Southern Freedom) or Стенька Разин (Stenka Razin). It was a 10-minute silent film based on the life of Stepan Razin, a Cossack leader who fought against the nobility in 1670.

On August 27, 1919, the Council of People’s of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Совет Народных Комиссаров РСФСР) issued a decree that nationalized cinema and related activities, placing all photographic and cinematographic trades and industries under the umbrella of the National Education Committee. State authorities saw a powerful political tool in cinema.

The Day of Russian Cinema has been observed since 1980, initiated by Leonid Brezhnev, Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, who was a fan of film. He even included American movies, which he spread across the Soviet Union.

 

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 #TW29: Children of Earth – Day Three

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Torchwood: Children of Earth – Day Three
(1 episode, s03e03, 2009)

 

“We are here.”

Torchwood has gone to ground.

They’re hiding out in an old factory once used by Torchwood One. As the world reels in fear of its own children, Gwen uses her police knowledge to steal laptops, debit cards, and mobile phones while Jack swipes a car. The team secures supplies, including a new set of appropriate clothes for Jack. Ianto makes contact just long enough to tell his family that he’s okay, but Alice is still left wondering about her father.

Torchwood Three’s “Hub 2” is up and running.

The Prime Minister locks the country down to protect the children. Clem McDonald is doing the best he can under the circumstances but ends up in police custody after stealing a woman’s pocketbook. Meanwhile, Alice tries another route to find out about Jack and ends up flagged by the government.

Gwen makes contact with Lois Habiba and asks her to wear a pair of Torchwood contact lenses so they can see what’s going on. Lois is hesitant but Gwen asks her to take the lenses in case she reconsiders. Back at the Hub, Jack and Ianto dig into the kill order while they discuss Jack’s status as a fixed point in time and space. Ianto is shaken by Jack’s immortality but they promise to make the most of what time they have.

When they find out that Clem has been arrested, Ianto sends Gwen to the police station to bail him out. She calls PC Andy Davidson to secure Clem’s release. While Ianto digs into Clem’s history, Jack asks to see the history behind each of the blank page victims. What he finds sends him running.

Agent Johnson’s group makes the connection between Jack and Alice. Frobisher orders Johnson to bring her in while he (and a sneaky Lois) head to Thames House. Johnson’s team storms Alice’s house – the bastards kill the dog! – and pursues her. When they catch up to her, they find young Steven pointing into the distance.

The rest of the world’s children point skyward, tracking a pillar of fire descending into Thames House. The 456 have arrived. They fill the containment chamber as Frobisher meets with Mr. Dekker and makes contact. The aliens instruct the humans to call them 456, and Frobisher extracts a promise that they will not speak of the previous visit to Earth in 1965. The 456 wish to speak with the world but will settle for a diplomatic liaison.

Representatives from UNIT and the United States meet with Prime Minister Green and make their displeasure clear. Green hands control of the 456 situation to Frobisher, a non-elected official with no powers of state, to defuse the tension.

Jack sneaks into the Frobisher home and steals a mobile phone to make contact. Jack asks if the current events are linked to 1965, and Frobisher confirms that the kill order was designed to silence those who remained with knowledge of the event. Jack wants to talk to the 456 but Frobisher counters with the revelation that he has Alice and Steven.

Lois slips the contact lenses in before joining Frobisher and Bridget Spears at the containment chamber. The conference is also being transmitted to Prime Minister Green, UNIT, and the American representatives. In the end, Frobisher demands that the 456 cease using human children to communicate. In exchange, the 456 demand a gift: Ten percent of the children on Earth.

Gwen takes Clem to Hub 2 where he meets the team, learns a quick lesson on social acceptance, and has a bite to eat. The team watches the diplomatic conference with the 456, and as Jack returns to the new Hub, Clem says that he can smell the man who previously delivered the children to 456.

Jack is that man. Gwen protests that he is a good man who fights aliens, but Jack reveals that he did what was asked of him.

In 1965, he gave the 456 twelve children. He gave them the “gift.”

 

This episode provides a bridge and a moment to breathe as the team gets its feet back on the ground. Not a moment is wasted, however, as the 456 arrive and the story climaxes with their demand as Jack’s allegiance is brought to question.

In that sense, the team’s grounding is short-lived. They end the episode off balance just like they started, and that keeps the drama moving until next week.

 

 

Rating: 4/5 – “Would you care for a jelly baby?”

 

 

 

UP NEXT – Torchwood: Children of Earth – Day Four

 

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 26

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August 26, 2020
Day 239 of 366

 

August 26th is the 239th day of the year. It is Repentance Day in Papua New Guinea, which is a day of prayer ceremonies across the country.

 

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National WebMistress Day, National Dog Day, and National Cherry Popsicle Day.

 

Historical items of note:

  • In 1789, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was approved by the National Constituent Assembly of France.
  • In 1791, John Fitch was granted a United States patent for the steamboat.
  • In 1883, the eruption of Krakatoa entered its final, most violent stage.
  • In 1918, physicist and mathematician Katherine Johnson was born. Her calculations of orbital mechanics as a NASA employee were critical to the success of the first and subsequent United States crewed spaceflights.
  • In 1952, actor Michael Jeter was born.
  • In 1970, actress, comedian, producer, and screenwriter Melissa McCarthy was born.
  • In 1976, actor Mike Colter was born.
  • In 1980, actor Macaulay Culkin was born.
  • Also in 1980, actor Chris Pine was born.

 

In 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution took effect, giving women the right (on paper) to vote.

Initially introduced to Congress in 1878, several attempts to pass a women’s suffrage amendment failed until passing the House of Representatives on May 21, 1919. Passage in the Senate followed June 4th of the same year, and it was then submitted to the states for ratification. On August 18, 1920, Tennessee was the last of the necessary 36 ratifying states to secure adoption. The Nineteenth Amendment’s adoption was certified on August 26, 1920.

Prior to 1776, women had the right to vote in several of the colonies in what would become the United States, but by 1807 every state constitution denied even limited suffrage. Organizations supporting women’s rights became more active in the mid-nineteenth century and, in 1848, the Seneca Falls convention adopted the Declaration of Sentiments, which called for equality between the sexes and included a resolution urging women to secure the vote.

Several legal arguments were struck down by the United States Supreme Court, so organizations with activists like Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton called for a new constitutional amendment.

The problem with the Nineteenth Amendment is that it only guarantees its rights on paper. Disenfranchisement continues for women in minority and underprivileged communities, often coupled with gerrymandering by political parties. Additionally, heroes of the movement like Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton were well-known for their views that bordered on white supremacy.

Stanton warned that white women would be degraded if “Negro” men preceded them into the franchise, and actively endorsed the myth of black rapists. Anthony supported similar views, vocally campaigning for women’s suffrage before that of minorities.

In historical context, some argue that their views were not racist, but such statements and endorsements emboldened the campaigns of hatred waged across the American South by the Ku Klux Klan.

On the 50th anniversary, in 1970, the nationwide Women’s Strike for Equality took place. About 50,000 women gathered for the protest in New York City and even more did so throughout the country. It was the largest gathering on behalf of women in the United States, and it had three primary goals: free abortion on demand, equal opportunity in the workforce, and free childcare. The strike also advocated for other second wave feminist goals more generally, such as political rights for women, and social equality in relationships such as marriage.

At the time of the protest, women still did not enjoy many of the same freedoms and rights as men. Despite the passage of the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which prohibited pay discrimination between two people who performed the same job, women comparatively earned 59 cents for every dollar a man made for similar work. Women were also restricted in terms of their access to higher education and were generally funneled into one of four occupational choices: secretarial, nursing, teaching, or motherhood.

In many states, women were also unable to obtain credit cards, make wills, or own property without a husband, and were limited in the number of hours they could work per week. Women are still fighting these battles on many fronts today.

Since 1972, and officially designated in 1973, Women’s Equality Day is celebrated on the anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment’s certification.

 

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 25

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August 25, 2020
Day 238 of 366

 

August 25th is the 238th day of the year. It is Independence Day in Uruguay as they celebrate their separation from Brazil in 1825.

 

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Whiskey Sour Day, National Kiss and Make Up Day, National Secondhand Wardrobe Day, and National Banana Split Day.

 

Historical items of note:

  • In 1609, Galileo Galilei demonstrated his first telescope to Venetian lawmakers.
  • In 1814, on the second day of the Burning of Washington, British troops torched the Library of Congress, United States Treasury, Department of War, and other public buildings.
  • In 1835, the first Great Moon Hoax article was published in The New York Sun, announcing the discovery of life and civilization on the Moon.
  • In 1894, Kitasato Shibasaburō discovered the infectious agent of the bubonic plague and published his findings in The Lancet.
  • In 1909, actor Michael Rennie was born.
  • In 1916, the United States National Park Service was created.
  • In 1918, pianist, composer, and conductor Leonard Bernstein was born.
  • In 1921, Canadian-American television personality and game show host Monty Hall was born.
  • In 1930, Scottish actor and producer Sean Connery was born. He was the first official James Bond, an immortal Scottish-Egyptian Spaniard, a security officer in space, a Russian submarine captain, Indy’s dad, and so many more characters.
  • In 1933, actor Tom Skerritt was born.
  • In 1939, actor, director, and producer John Badham was born.
  • In 1958, director, producer, and screenwriter Tim Burton was born.
  • In 1961, actress Joanne Whalley was born.
  • In 1964, television writer and producer Marti Noxon was born.
  • In 1981, the Voyager 2 spacecraft made its closest approach to Saturn.
  • In 1989, the Voyager 2 spacecraft made its closest approach to Neptune. It was the last planet in the Solar System at the time due to Pluto being within Neptune’s orbit from 1979 to 1999.
  • In 1991, Linus Torvalds announced the first version of what would become Linux.
  • In 2012, the Voyager 1 spacecraft entered interstellar space, thus becoming the first man-made object to do so.

 

August 25th is Liberation Day in France.

The date commemorates the Liberation of Paris (Libération de Paris), a World War II military battle that started on August 19, 1944 and ended six days later when the Nazi garrison surrendered Paris.

The liberation began when the French Forces of the Interior, the military structure of the French Resistance, staged an uprising against the Nazis as General George Patton’s Third Army approached. On the night of August 24th, elements of General Philippe Leclerc’s 2nd French Armored Division made their way into Paris and arrived at the Hôtel de Ville. The next morning, the bulk of the 2nd Armored Division and American 4th Infantry Division entered the city. Military governor of Paris and garrison commander Dietrich von Choltitz surrendered at the Hôtel Meurice.

General Charles de Gaulle of the French Army arrived to assume control of the city, operating as head of the Provisional Government of the French Republic. The fighting continued across France, but the politically divided French Resistance, Gaullists, nationalists, communists, and anarchists were united.

 

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.

 

 

Culture on My Mind – Quarantine Con, Episodes XVI-XIX

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Culture on My Mind
Quarantine Con, Episodes XVI-XIX
August 24, 2020

It’s been another busy set of weeks around these parts, including busy times at the day job and preparations for Dragon Con’s virtual panels. With some time simmering on the back burner, I’ve amassed another backlog of “can’t let it go” panels from the Classic Track Irregulars

On July 30th, the Dragon Con American Sci-Fi Classics co-conspirators Gary and Joe opened their doors to the Ask Me Anything format.

Panel #17 made us wonder if, surely, they were joking as Gary and Joe invited the Earth Station One crew to talk about the 40th anniversary of the cult classic Airplane. Gary was joined by Mike Faber, Michael Gordon, Ashley Pauls, and Alex Autrey.

Panel #18 comes to us from the depths of the sea. On August 6th, Joe hosted Deanna Toxopeus, Alison Richards, Bobby Nash, and Jessa Phillips as they profess their love for SeaQuest DSV.

The nineteenth panel took a hard look at the reality of science fiction. In particular, how the genre has always been about politics and social issues. It’s not just a new theme.

This panel was Sue Kisenwether’s idea, and she gathered Bethany Kesler, James Palmer, Sherman Burris, Michael G. Williams, Joe, and Gary to discuss Star Trek, The Twilight Zone, Babylon 5, Deep Space Nine, and metric tons more about the genre that we love.

Gary and Joe have a lot more fun discussions planned in the coming weeks, especially over Dragon Con. Stay tuned to the YouTube channel and the group on Facebook. If you join in live, you can also leave comments and participate in the discussion using StreamYard connected through Facebook.

cc-break

Culture on My Mind is inspired by the weekly Can’t Let It Go segment on the NPR Politics Podcast where each host brings one thing to the table that they just can’t stop thinking about.

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

The Thing About Today – August 24

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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.