Tag: The Thing About Today

The Thing About Today – September 2

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September 2, 2020
Day 246 of 366

 

September 2nd is the 246th day of the year. It is Independence Day in several locales today. The first is Transnistria (also known as Transdniestria, Pridnestrovie, or officially the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic), a breakaway state in a narrow strip of land between the river Dniester and the Ukrainian border that is internationally recognized as part of Moldova. The second is Artsakh (officially the Republic of Artsakh), a breakaway state in the South Caucasus that is internationally recognized as a part of Azerbaijan. The independence of those two republics is not officially recognized. The third locale is Vietnam, which commemorated President Hồ Chí Minh reading the Declarations of independence of Vietnam at Ba Đình Square in Hanoi, which separated them from Japan and France in 1945.

 

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Blueberry Popsicle Day.

 

Historical items of note:

  • In 1666, the Great Fire of London broke out and burned for three days. The fire destroyed 10,000 buildings, including Old St Paul’s Cathedral.
  • In 1752, Great Britain, along with its overseas possessions, adopted the Gregorian calendar.
  • In 1789, the United States Department of the Treasury was founded.
  • In 1912, Arthur Rose Eldred was awarded the first Eagle Scout award of the Boy Scouts of America.
  • In 1932, Arnold Greenberg, the co-founder of Snapple, was born.
  • In 1948, educator and astronaut Christa McAuliffe was born.
  • In 1951, actor and producer Mark Harmon was born.
  • In 1963, CBS Evening News became the first half-hour weeknight news broadcast on American network television when the show is lengthened from 15 to 30 minutes.
  • In 1964, Lebanese-Canadian actor, singer, and producer Keanu Reeves was born.
  • In 1966, Mexican-American actress, director, and producer Salma Hayek was born.
  • In 1970, NASA announced the cancellation of two Apollo missions to the Moon: Apollo 15 (which was used by a later mission) and Apollo 19.
  • In 2001, the adult-oriented television block Adult Swim debuted on Cartoon Network.
  • In 2012, the decades-long ban on veiled female news presenters was lifted from State television in Egypt.

 

In 1945, the Japanese Instrument of Surrender was signed by Japan and the major warring powers aboard the battleship USS Missouri (BB-63) in Tokyo Bay, thus ending World War II.

It is known as Victory over Japan Day, V-J Day, Victory in the Pacific Day, and V-P Day. It is celebrated around the world, both on August 15th (the initial date of surrender) and September 2nd (the official declaration of surrender).

Since the 1960s, it has been suggested September 2nd be declared as an international holiday to be called World Peace Day. However, when this holiday came to be first celebrated beginning in 1981, it was designated as September 21st, the day the General Assembly of the United Nations begins its deliberations each year.

 

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 – September 1

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

September 1, 2020
Day 245 of 366

 

September 1st is the 245th day of the year. It is Independence Day, commemorating Uzbekistan’s separation from the Soviet Union in 1991.

 

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Chicken Boy’s Day (honoring the odd statue on Route 66 in California) and National No Rhyme (Nor Reason) Day.

 

Historical items of note:

  • In 1653, German organist, composer, and educator Johann Pachelbel was born.
  • In 1726, German organist, composer, and educator Johann Becker was born.
  • In 1804, Juno was discovered by the German astronomer Karl Ludwig Harding. It is one of the largest asteroids in the Main Belt.
  • In 1836, Narcissa Whitman, one of the first English-speaking white women to settle west of the Rocky Mountains, arrived at Walla Walla, Washington.
  • In 1854, German playwright and composer Engelbert Humperdinck was born.
  • In 1875, soldier and author Edgar Rice Burroughs was born.
  • In 1877, English chemist and physicist Francis William Aston was born. He won the 1922 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his discovery, by means of his mass spectrograph, of isotopes in many non-radioactive elements and for his enunciation of the whole number rule.
  • In 1878, Emma Nutt became the world’s first female telephone operator when she was recruited by Alexander Graham Bell to the Boston Telephone Dispatch Company.
  • In 1895, German engineer and designer Engelbert Zaschka was born. He was the inventor of the Human-Powered Aircraft.
  • In 1897, the Tremont Street Subway in Boston opened. It was the first underground rapid transit system in North America.
  • In 1906, the International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys was established.
  • In 1911, the armored cruiser Georgios Averof was commissioned into the Greek Navy. It served as the Greek flagship during most of the first half of the century and now serves as a museum ship.
  • In 1914, the last known passenger pigeon, a female named Martha, died in captivity in the Cincinnati Zoo.
  • In 1934, the first Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer animated cartoon, The Discontented Canary, was released to movie theatres.
  • In 1939, Adolf Hitler signed an order to begin the systematic euthanasia of mentally ill and disabled people.
  • Also in 1939, actress, comedian, screenwriter, and producer Lily Tomlin was born.
  • In 1974, English actor and musician Burn Gorman was born. He played Owen Harper on Torchwood.
  • In 1952, The Old Man and the Sea, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Ernest Hemingway, was first published.
  • In 1954, Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window, starring Grace Kelly and James Stewart, was released.
  • In 1957, Cuban-American singer-songwriter and actress Gloria Estefan was born.
  • In 1972, American Bobby Fischer beat Russian Boris Spassky in Reykjavík, Iceland, to become the world chess champion.
  • In 1974, the SR-71 Blackbird set the record for flying from New York to London in the time of 1 hour, 54 minutes and 56.4 seconds. That’s at a speed of 1,435.587 miles per hour (or 2,310.353 kilometers per hour).
  • In 1979, space probe Pioneer 11 became the first spacecraft to visit Saturn when it passed the planet at a distance of 21,000 kilometers (13,000 miles).
  • In 1984, Swedish film composer Ludwig Göransson was born.
  • In 1985, a joint American–French expedition located the wreckage of the RMS Titanic.
  • In 1996, actress and singer Zendaya was born.

 

September 1st is Knowledge Day (День Знаний), the day when the school year traditionally starts in Russia and many other former Soviet republics as well as other countries in the former Eastern Bloc and Israel. This excludes Romania, which typically starts on September 11th, and the former state of East Germany.

Knowledge Day originated in the USSR and was established by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 15 June 1984. It marks the end of summer and the beginning of autumn, and is a milestone for the incoming class of first graders who come to school for the first time and often participate in a celebratory assembly on this date.

The day also involves the First Bell (Первый Звонок), which has a counter-date at the end of the year called Last Bell (Последний звонок).

 

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 31

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

August 31, 2020
Day 244 of 366

 

August 31st is the 244th day of the year. It is Independence Day in multiple countries today, including Kyrgyzstan (from the Soviet Union in 1991), Malaya (from the United Kingdom in 1957), and Trinidad and Tobago (from the United Kingdom in 1962).

 

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National South Carolina Day, National Matchmaker Day, National Diatomaceous Earth Day, and National Trail Mix Day.

 

Historical items of note:

  • In 1888, Mary Ann Nichols was murdered. She was the first of Jack the Ripper’s confirmed victims.
  • In 1895, German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin patented his “navigable balloon”.
  • In 1897, Thomas Edison patented the Kinetoscope, the first movie projector.
  • In 1928, actor James Coburn was born.
  • In 1935, in an attempt to stay out of the growing tensions concerning Germany and Japan, the United States passed the first of its Neutrality Acts.
  • In 1936, Radio Prague, now the official international broadcasting station of the Czech Republic, went on the air.
  • In 1939, Nazi Germany mounted a false flag attack on the Gleiwitz radio station, creating an excuse to attack Poland the following day, thus starting World War II in Europe.
  • In 1943, USS Harmon (DE-678) was commissioned. It was the first United States Navy ship to be named after a black person.
  • In 1949, actor and producer Richard Gere was born.
  • In 1962, voice actor Dee Bradley Baker was born.
  • In 1971, actor and comedian Chris Tucker was born.
  • In 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales, her companion Dodi Fayed, and driver Henri Paul died in a car crash in Paris.

 

August 31st is National Language Day in Moldova. Locally, it is known as Limba noastră, which literally translates to “Our Language”.

On August 27, 1989, the Popular Front of Moldova organized a mass demonstration in Chişinău, that became known as the Great National Assembly. It pressured the authorities of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic to adopt a language law on August 31, 1989, which proclaimed the Moldovan language written in the Latin script to be the state language of the MSSR. Its identity with the Romanian language was also established.

On June 23, 1990, the Moldovan Parliament established August 31st as a national language day. During the celebration, the main square of Chişinău holds a concert featuring performances of various national entertainers, and since the country’s Independence Day celebrations take place just days before, they keep the stage up from August 27th through this observance.

 

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 30

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

August 30, 2020
Day 243 of 366

 

August 30th is the 243rd day of the year. It is Independence Day in Tartarstan, Russia. The Republic of Tartarstan is a federal subject of the Russian Federation, and its independence is not officially recognized.

 

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Toasted Marshmallow Day, National Grief Awareness Day, and National Beach Day.

 

Historical items of note:

  • In 1797, English novelist and playwright Mary Shelley was born. She wrote the Gothic novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus in 1818, which is cited as the first science fiction novel.
  • In 1835, Melbourne, Victoria was founded in Australia.
  • In 1871, New Zealand-English physicist and chemist Ernest Rutherford was born. The father of nuclear physics, his discovery of radioactive half-lives, the discovery of the element radon, and the distinction of alpha and beta particles were the basis for his Nobel Prize in 1908.
  • In 1908, actor Fred MacMurray was born.
  • In 1916, Ernest Shackleton completed the rescue of all of his men stranded on Elephant Island in Antarctica.
  • In 1931, astronaut Jack Swigert was born.
  • In 1936, the RMS Queen Mary won the Blue Riband by setting the fastest transatlantic crossing.
  • In 1956, actor, producer, and screenwriter Frank Conniff was born. “Push the button, Frank.”
  • In 1963, actor, director, and producer Michael Chiklis was born.
  • In 1967, Thurgood Marshall was confirmed as the first African American Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
  • In 1972, model, actress, and producer Cameron Diaz was born.
  • In 1984, the Space Shuttle Discovery launched on Mission STS-41-D, which was its maiden voyage.
  • In 1992, actress Jessica Henwick was born.

 

In 1963, the Moscow-Washington hotline between the leaders of the United States and the Soviet Union went into operation.

Although in popular culture it is known as the “red telephone”, the hotline was never a telephone line, and no red phones were used. The first implementation used Teletype equipment, using two full-time duplex telegraph circuits. The primary circuit was routed from Washington, D.C. via London, Copenhagen, Stockholm, and Helsinki to Moscow. TAT-1, the first submarine transatlantic telephone cable carried messages from Washington to London. A secondary radio line for back-up and service messages linked Washington and Moscow via Tangier.

Allegedly, the first message transmitted over the hotline was from Washington to Moscow, consisting of “The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog’s back 1234567890”. This included all the Latin alphabet, as well as all Arabic numerals and the apostrophe, to test that the keyboard and printer were working correctly.

In September 1971, Moscow and Washington decided to upgrade the system and came to an agreement (for the first time) when the line should be used. They agreed to notify each other immediately in the event of an accidental, unauthorized, or unexplained incident involving a nuclear weapon that could increase the risk of nuclear war. Two new satellite communication lines supplemented the terrestrial circuits using two U.S. Intelsat satellites, and two Soviet Molniya II satellites. This arrangement lasted until 1978 and subsequently made the radio link via Tangier redundant.

In May 1983, President Ronald Reagan proposed to upgrade the hotline by the addition of high-speed facsimile capability. The Soviet Union and the United States agreed formally to do this on July 17, 1984, and upgrades were to take place through the use of Intelsat satellites and modems, fax machines, and computers. The facsimile terminals were operational by 1986, followed by the teletype circuits two years later after the fax links were deemed reliable. The Soviets transferred the hotline link to the newer, geostationary Gorizont-class satellites of the Stationar system.

Since 2008, the Moscow-Washington hotline has been a secure computer link over which messages are exchanged by a secure form of e-mail. It continues to use the two satellite links but a fiber optic cable replaced the old back-up cable. Commercial software is used for both chat and email. The chat side coordinates operations while e-mail handles the actual messages. Transmission is nearly instantaneous, given the speed of light and the importance of the communications system.

The primary link was accidentally cut several times, but regular testing of both the primary and backup links took place daily. During the even hours, the United States sent test messages to the Soviet Union. In the odd hours, the Soviet Union sent test messages back.

 

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 29

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

August 29, 2020
Day 242 of 366

 

August 29th is the 242nd day of the year. It is Telugu Language Day in India, commemorating the birthday in 1863 of Gidugu Venkata Ramamurthy. He was a Telugu writer and one of the earliest modern Telugu linguists and social visionaries during the British rule. He championed the cause of using a language comprehensible to the common man (‘Vyavaharika Bhasha’) as opposed to the scholastic language (‘Grandhika Bhasha’).

 

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Chop Suey Day.

 

Historical items of note:

  • In 708, copper coins were minted in Japan for the first time. The traditional Japanese date for this event is August 10, 708.
  • In 1632, English physician and philosopher John Locke was born. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers and commonly known as the “Father of Liberalism”.
  • In 1786, Shays’ Rebellion, an armed uprising of Massachusetts farmers, began in response to high debt and tax burdens.
  • In 1831, Michael Faraday discovered electromagnetic induction.
  • In 1898, the Goodyear tire company was founded.
  • In 1915, United States Navy salvage divers raised F-4 (SS-23), the first United States submarine sunk in an accident.
  • In 1923, English actor, director, and producer Richard Attenborough was born.
  • In 1938, actor and producer Elliott Gould was born.
  • In 1939, director, producer, and screenwriter Joel Schumacher was born.
  • In 1958, the United States Air Force Academy opened in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
  • In 1959, actress Rebecca De Mornay was born.
  • Also in 1959, astronaut Chris Hadfield was born.
  • In 1965, the Gemini V spacecraft returned to Earth and landed in the Atlantic Ocean.
  • In 1971, actress Carla Gugino was born.
  • In 1982, the synthetic chemical element Meitnerium (atomic number 109) was first synthesized at the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt, Germany.
  • In 1997, Netflix was launched as an internet DVD rental service.

 

August 29th is the International Day against Nuclear Tests, established on December 2, 2009, by the United Nations.

The resolution called for increasing awareness “about the effects of nuclear weapon test explosions or any other nuclear explosions and the need for their cessation as one of the means of achieving the goal of a nuclear-weapon-free world”. The resolution was initiated by Kazakhstan together with several sponsors and cosponsors to commemorate the closure of the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site on August 29, 1991.

Following the establishment of the International Day against Nuclear Tests, in May 2010 all state parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons committed themselves to “achieve the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons”.

 

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 28

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

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

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

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.

 

 

The Thing About Today – August 26

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

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

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

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.

 

 

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.