Tag: The Thing About Today

The Thing About Today – December 1

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

December 1, 2020
Day 336 of 366

December 1st is the 336th day of the year. There are 30 days remaining in 2020.

It is Great Union Day (Ziua Marii Uniri) in Romania, marking the unification of Transylvania, Bessarabia, and Bukovina with the Romanian Kingdom in 1918.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Pie Day, National Eat a Red Apple Day, Bifocals at the Monitor Liberation Day, Rosa Parks Day (in Ohio and Oregon), World Trick Shot Day (typically on the first Tuesday in December), and National Day of Giving – #GivingTuesday (typically on the day following Cyber Monday).

Historical items of note:

  • In 1824, the United States Presidential election was decided by the House of Representatives. None of the candidates received a majority of Electoral College votes, so the House of Representatives exercised their rights under the provisions of the Twelfth Amendment and held a contingent election. On February 9, 1825, John Quincy Adams was elected as President, defeating Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, and William Crawford. It is one of three presidential elections (along with the 1800 election and 1876 election) that have been decided in the House. It is also one of five in which the winner did not achieve at least a plurality of the national popular vote (along with the elections of 1876, 1888, 2000, and 2016), and the only U.S. election in which the candidate who had the plurality of votes in the Electoral College did not win the election.
  • In 1834, slavery was abolished in the Cape Colony in accordance with the Slavery Abolition Act 1833.
  • In 1865, Shaw University, the first historically black university in the southern United States, was founded in Raleigh, North Carolina.
  • In 1913, Crete, having obtained self rule from Turkey after the First Balkan War, was annexed by Greece.
  • In 1919, Lady Astor became the first female Member of Parliament to take her seat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.
  • In 1940, comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter Richard Pryor was born.
  • In 1945, singer-songwriter, actress, and producer Bette Midler was born.
  • In 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, seamstress Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white man. She was arrested for violating the city’s racial segregation laws, an incident which led to that city’s bus boycott.
  • In 1959, the Antarctic Treaty was signed. It set aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve and banned military activity on the continent.
  • In 1967, actor Nestor Carbonell was born.
  • In 1970, singer-songwriter and guitarist Jonathan Coulton was born.
  • In 1977, Pinwheel is launched. It later became Nickelodeon.
  • In 1982, English actor and rapper Riz Ahmed was born.
  • In 1984, Beverly Hills Cop premiered.
  • In 2018, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse premiered.
  • In 2019, the first known case of COVID-19 appeared.

In 1988, World AIDS Day was designated by the World Health Organization (WHO).

This international day is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection and mourning those who have died of the disease. Government and health officials, non-governmental organizations, and individuals around the world observe the day, often with education on AIDS prevention and control.

December 1st is also Day Without Art, an observance established in 1989 as the national day of action and mourning in response to the AIDS crisis, which had rapidly hurt the artistic community. To make the public aware that AIDS can touch everyone, and inspire positive action, some 800 U.S. art and AIDS groups participated in the first Day Without Art, shutting down museums, sending staff to volunteer at AIDS services, or sponsoring special exhibitions of work about AIDS.

Since then, Day With(out) Art has grown into a collaborative project in which an estimated 8,000 national and international museums, galleries, art centers, AIDS service organizations, libraries, high schools and colleges take part.

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 – November 30

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

November 30, 2020
Day 335 of 366

November 30th is the 335th day of the year. It is Independence Day in Barbados (which separated from the United Kingdom in 1966) and South Yemen (which separated from the United Kingdom in 1967).

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Personal Space Day, National Mason Jar Day, National Mousse Day, National Meth Awareness Day, Computer Security Day, Stay Home Because You’re Well Day, National Mississippi Day, and Cyber Monday (typically observed on the Monday after Thanksgiving).

Historical items of note:

  • In 1667, Irish satirist and essayist Jonathan Swift was born.
  • In 1786, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, under Pietro Leopoldo I, became the first modern state to abolish the death penalty. The date was later commemorated as Cities for Life Day.
  • In 1835, novelist, humorist, and critic Mark Twain was born.
  • In 1872, Canadian physician, soldier, and poet John McCrae was born. He wrote In Flanders Fields.
  • In 1874, English colonel, journalist, politician, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and Nobel Prize laureate Winston Churchill was born.
  • In 1927, actor Robert Guillaume was born.
  • In 1929, television host and producer Dick Clark was born.
  • Also in 1929, screenwriter and producer Joan Ganz Cooney was born. She co-created Sesame Street.
  • In 1934, the LNER Class A3 4472 Flying Scotsman became the first steam locomotive to be authenticated as reaching 100 mph.
  • In 1936, in London, the Crystal Palace was destroyed by fire.
  • In 1937, English director, producer, and production designer Scott Ridley was born.
  • In 1954, the Hodges meteorite crashed through a roof in Sylacauga, Alabama and hit a woman taking an afternoon nap. This is the only documented case in the Western Hemisphere of a human being hit by a rock from space.
  • In 1955, actor Kevin Conroy was born.
  • In 1962, computer programmer and author Daniel Keys Moran was born.
  • In 1979, Pink Floyd’s rock opera, The Wall was released.
  • In 1982, Michael Jackson’s sixth solo studio album, Thriller, was released worldwide. It ultimately became the best-selling record album in history.
  • Also in 1982, Canadian actress Elisha Cuthbert was born.
  • Also in 1982, Richard Attenborough’s 1983 Best Picture film Gandhi premiered.
  • In 1985, actress Kaley Cuoco was born.
  • In 1993, Steven Spielberg’s 1994 Best Picture film Schindler’s List premiered.
  • In 2000, NASA launched mission STS-97 with Space Shuttle Endeavour, the 101st Space Shuttle mission.

In 2005, Cyber Monday was established by Ellen Davis of the National Retail Federation and Scott Silverman.

Cyber Monday, also known as Blue Monday, is a marketing term for a day created by retailers to convince people to shop online after Black Friday. It’s original purpose was to offer a way for smaller retail websites to compete with larger chains.

Of course, that hasn’t stopped major retailers like Amazon from engaging as well.

In 2017, Cyber Monday online sales grew to a record of $6.59 billion. That’s compared with $2.98 billion in 2015 and $2.65 billion in 2014.

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 – November 29

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

November 29, 2020
Day 334 of 366

November 29th is the 334th day of the year. It is Unity Day in Vanuatu, a day dedicated to finding unity among the 270,000 citizens, 113 indigenous languages, and various unique customs and traditions across the 83 small volcanic islands.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as Electronic Greetings Day.

Historical items of note:

  • In 1777, San Jose, California, was founded as Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe by José Joaquín Moraga. It was the first civilian settlement, or pueblo, in Alta California.
  • In 1832, novelist and poet Louisa May Alcott was born.
  • In 1877, Thomas Edison demonstrated the phonograph for the first time.
  • In 1898, British novelist, poet, and critic C. S. Lewis was born.
  • In 1918, author and poet Madeleine L’Engle was born.
  • In 1935, actress Diane Ladd was born.
  • In 1961, The Mercury-Atlas 5 mission was launched. Enos, a chimpanzee, was launched into space. The spacecraft orbited the Earth twice and splashed down off the coast of Puerto Rico.
  • In 1964, actor and producer Don Cheadle was born.
  • In 1972, Atari released Pong, the first commercially successful video game.
  • In 1976, actor Chadwick Boseman was born. He died this year from colon cancer. He was taken from us far too soon.

November 29th is Liberation Day (Dita e Çlirimit) in Albania. It commemorates the day in 1944 when the country was liberated from Nazi Germany forces after the Albanian resistance during World War II.

After Italy was defeated by the Allies, Germany occupied Albania in September 1943. Paratroopers dropped into Tirana before the Albanian guerrillas could take the capital, and the German army drove the guerrillas into the hills and to the south.

Berlin subsequently announced it would recognize the independence of a neutral Albania and organized the Albanian government, police, and military. Many Balli Kombëtar units (an Albanian nationalist anti-communist paramilitary movement and political organization) collaborated with the Germans against the communists, and several Balli Kombëtar leaders held positions in the German-sponsored regime.

The partisans entirely liberated Albania from German occupation on November 29, 1944. The National Liberation Army, which in October 1944 consisted of 70,000 regulars, also took part in the war alongside the antifascist coalition. The Albanian partisans liberated Kosovo, and assisted Tito’s communist forces in liberating part of Montenegro and southern Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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 – November 28

Michael Falkner1 Comment

November 28, 2020
Day 333 of 366

November 28th is the 333rd day of the year. It is Independence Day in Mauritania (which separated from France in 1960) and Panama (which separated from Spain in 1821). It is also Albanian Flag Day, which celebrates the independence of Albania from Turkey in 1912, the first Albanian flag raise by Skanderbeg in 1443, and for the new parliamentary constitution in 1998.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National French Toast Day and Small Business Saturday (which is typically the Saturday after Thanksgiving).

Historical items of note:

  • In 1582, in Stratford-upon-Avon, William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway paid a £40 bond for their marriage license.
  • In 1811, Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73, premiered at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig.
  • In 1814, The Times of London became the first newspaper to be produced on a steam-powered printing press, built by the German team of Koenig & Bauer.
  • In 1843, Ka Lā Hui (Hawaiian Independence Day) was established when the Kingdom of Hawaii was officially recognized by the United Kingdom and France as an independent nation.
  • In 1893, women voted for the first time in New Zealand with the 1893 New Zealand general election.
  • In 1919, Lady Astor was elected as a Member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Countess Markievicz was the first woman to be elected to Parliament, but she refused to sit, so Lady Astor became the first woman to sit in the House of Commons.
  • In 1943, singer-songwriter, composer, and pianist Randy Newman was born.
  • In 1946, director and producer Joe Dante was born.
  • In 1950, actor and producer Ed Harris was born.
  • In 1952, actress S. Epatha Merkerson was born.
  • In 1961, Mexican director, producer, and screenwriter Alfonso Cuarón was born.
  • In 1962, comedian, actor, and television host Jon Stewart was born.
  • In 1964, NASA launched the Mariner 4 probe toward Mars.
  • In 1967, the first pulsar (PSR B1919+21, in the constellation of Vulpecula) was discovered by astronomers Jocelyn Bell Burnell and Antony Hewish.
  • In 1972, Claude Buffet and Roger Bontems were guillotined at La Santé Prison. They marked the last executions to occur in Paris. Capital punishment was abolished in the country overall in 1981.
  • In 1984, actress and producer Mary Elizabeth Winstead was born.
  • In 1987, Scottish actress Karen Gillan was born.
  • In 1988, actress and singer-songwriter Scarlett Pomers was born.

November 28th is Hōonkō (報恩講) in Japan, a holiday in the tradition of Japanese Jodo Shinshu Buddhism that observes the memorial of its founder, Shinran Shonin.

Depending on whether the old Japanese lunar calendar or the western Gregorian calendar is used, this holiday is typically observed either around November 28th (as in the Higashi Honganji) or early January from the 9th to the 16th (as in the Nishi Honganji) respectively.

This holiday is among the most important observed in the Jodo Shinshu tradition. The observance began after Shinran’s daughter, Kakushinni carried on administration of Shinran’s mausoleum, as did her descendants, who ultimately became the Monshu of Jodo Shinshu.

In the word hōonkō; ‘hōon’ means “return of gratitude” and ‘ko’ means “to clarify the meaning of” or “gathering”‘. A typical service will consist of reciting Shinran’s hymn, the Shoshinge, and a reading from the life of Shinran. Followers will sometimes observe a strict diet that day, preferring to eat shōjin ryōri or “Buddhist cuisine”, though this is strictly optional. Temple services will often serve Buddhist cuisine after service including vegetarian ozōni, adzuki and mochi.

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 – November 27

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

November 27, 2020
Day 332 of 366

November 27th is the 332nd day of the year. It is Teacher’s Day in Spain.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Bavarian Cream Pie Day, and National Craft Jerky Day. It is also recognized as a slew of events set on the day after Thanksgiving: National Day of Listening, National Native American Heritage Day, Black Friday, Buy Nothing Day, Flossing Day, Maize Day, and You’re Welcomegiving Day.

Historical items of note:

  • In 1835, James Pratt and John Smith were hanged in London. They were the last two people to be executed for sodomy in England.
  • In 1895, at the Swedish-Norwegian Club in Paris, Alfred Nobel signed his last will and testament. It set aside his estate to establish the Nobel Prize after he died.
  • In 1896, Also sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss was first performed.
  • In 1911, vegetables were thrown at actors by an audience for the first time in recorded American history.
  • In 1924, in New York City, the first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was held.
  • In 1935, English television and film producer Verity Lambert was born. She began her career as a producer at the BBC by becoming the founding producer of the science-fiction series Doctor Who from 1963 until 1965.
  • In 1940, American-Chinese actor, martial artist, and screenwriter Bruce Lee was born.
  • In 1945, actor James Avery was born.
  • In 1951, director, producer, and screenwriter Kathryn Bigelow was born.
  • In 1952, astronaut Jim Wetherbee was born.
  • In 1955, engineer, educator, and television host Bill Nye was born.
  • In 1956, actor William Fichtner was born.
  • In 1957, game designer and author Michael A. Stackpole was born.
  • In 1961, English actress Samantha Bond was born.
  • In 1963, actor, director, and producer Fisher Stevens was born.
  • In 1968, Penny Ann Early became the first woman to play major professional basketball for the Kentucky Colonels in an ABA game against the Los Angeles Stars.
  • In 1971, the Soviet space program’s Mars 2 orbiter released a descent module. It malfunctioned and crashed, but it was the first man-made object to reach the surface of Mars.
  • In 1976, actor and screenwriter Jaleel White was born.
  • In 1978, San Francisco city mayor George Moscone and openly gay city supervisor Harvey Milk were assassinated by former supervisor Dan White.
  • In 1985, Canadian actress Alison Pill was born.
  • In 2001, a hydrogen atmosphere was discovered on the extrasolar planet Osiris by the Hubble Space Telescope. It was the first atmosphere detected on an extrasolar planet.
  • In 2013, Disney’s Frozen was released. It became the highest-grossing animated film of all time.

November 27th is Lancashire Day, a county day for historic Lancashire in England.

It commemorates the day in 1295 when Lancashire first sent representatives to Parliament. This was to attend the Model Parliament of King Edward I. Lancashire Day was first held in 1996.

Curated by the Friends of Real Lancashire, it is observed with the loyal toast to “The Queen, Duke of Lancaster”, and is celebrated from everywhere within the county palatine. The day is marked throughout the historic county by town criers announcing the Lancashire Day proclamation which declares the historic regions boundaries of the county, and finishes with “God bless Lancashire, and God save the Queen, Duke of Lancaster”.

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 – November 26

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

November 26, 2020
Day 331 of 366

November 26th is the 331st day of the year. It is Thanksgiving Day in the United States, typically observed on the fourth Thursday of November.

In the United States, today is also observed as National Day of Mourning. This day was organized by the United American Indians of New England (UAINE) since they consider Thanksgiving Day as a continued reminder of the democide and suffering of Native American people. Since 1970, participants in the National Day of Mourning have honored Native ancestors and their struggles to survive today. Part of the mission behind the event is to educate Americans about the history of Thanksgiving, and the event has brought about revisions in the depiction of United States history and government and settler relationships with Native American peoples as well as a renewed appreciation for their culture.

Historical items of note:

  • In 1842, the University of Notre Dame was founded.
  • In 1863, United States President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed November 26 as a national Thanksgiving Day, to be celebrated annually on the final Thursday of November. Following the Franksgiving controversy from 1939 to 1941, it has been observed on the fourth Thursday in 1942 and subsequent years.
  • In 1917, the National Hockey League was formed, with the Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators, Quebec Bulldogs, and Toronto Arenas as its first teams.
  • In 1922, Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon became the first people to enter the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun in over 3000 years.
  • Also in 1922, The Toll of the Sea debuted as the first general release film to use two-tone Technicolor. The Gulf Between was the first film to do so, but it was not widely distributed.
  • In 1939, American-Swiss singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress Tina Turner was born.
  • In 1942, Casablanca, starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, premiered in New York City.
  • In 1956, The Price is Right debuted on NBC.
  • In 1965, France launched Astérix, becoming the third nation to put an object in orbit using its own booster.
  • In 1981, English singer-songwriter and producer Natasha Bedingfield was born.
  • In 2003, the Concorde made its final flight, flying over Bristol, England.
  • In 2011, the Mars Science Laboratory launched to Mars with the Curiosity Rover.
  • In 2018, the robotic probe Insight landed on Elysium Planitia, Mars.

November 26th is unofficially known as National Cake Day in the United States. While cakes have origins from both Greek and Norse cultures, the day itself is rather inconsequential.

Add a cake of some sort to your day, whether it be Thanksgiving related or not. If you plan on celebrating today, I hope you have a good and safe holiday.

If you’re not celebrating today, enjoy your Thursday. I’ll see you again tomorrow.

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 – November 25

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

November 25, 2020
Day 330 of 366

November 25th is the 330th day of the year. It is Independence Day in Suriname, celebrating their separation from the Netherlands in 1975.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Play Day with Dad, National Parfait Day, Blasé Day, Shopping Reminder Day, Tie One On Day, and National Jukebox Day. Those last two are typically observed on the day before Thanksgiving.

Historical items of note:

  • In 1487, Elizabeth of York was crowned Queen of England.
  • In 1491, the siege of Granada, the last Moorish stronghold in Spain, ended with the Treaty of Granada.
  • In 1783, the last British troops left New York City, commonly known as Evacuation Day, three months after the signing of the Treaty of Paris.
  • In 1844, German engineer and businessman Karl Benz was born. He founded Mercedes-Benz.
  • In 1914, baseball player and coach Joe DiMaggio was born.
  • In 1915, Albert Einstein presented the field equations of general relativity to the Prussian Academy of Sciences. These equations relate the geometry of spacetime to the distribution of matter within it.
  • In 1920, Mexican actor Ricardo Montalbán was born.
  • In 1926, actor and producer Jeffrey Hunter was born. He was the first Captain Christopher Pike on Star Trek.
  • This day in 1940 marked the first flights of both the de Havilland Mosquito and Martin B-26 Marauder.
  • In 1947, the “Hollywood Ten” were formally blacklisted by Hollywood movie studios for defying Congress.
  • Also in 1947, actor John Larroquette was born.
  • In 1950, English-American author Chris Claremont was born.
  • In 1952, Agatha Christie’s murder-mystery play The Mousetrap opened at the Ambassadors Theatre in London. It would become the longest continuously-running play in history.
  • In 1965, Scottish television and film actor Dougray Scott was born.
  • In 1968, twin sisters Jacqueline and Jill Hennessy were born. Both are Canadian actresses. Jacqueline is also a journalist and Jill is also a singer.
  • In 1971, actress Christina Applegate was born.
  • In 1984, thirty-six top musicians gathered in a Notting Hill studio and recorded Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” in order to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia.
  • In 1986, actress Katie Cassidy was born.
  • In 1996, the Disneyland Main Street Electrical Parade closed after twenty-four years of operation.

November 25th is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

This United Nations day is designed to raise awareness of the fact that women around the world are subject to rape, domestic violence, and other forms of violence, and that the scale and true nature of the issue is often hidden.

The event is related to the 1960 murder of the Mirabal sisters. Patria, Minerva, María Teresa, and Dedé Mirabal were Dominican women who opposed the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo (known as El Jefe) and were involved in clandestine activities against his regime. Patria, Minerva, and María Teresa were assassinated on this date in 1960. The last sister, Dedé, died of natural causes on February 1, 2014.

The assassinations turned the Mirabal sisters into symbols of both popular and feminist resistance, and the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women was designated in 1999 in their 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 – November 24

Michael Falkner1 Comment

November 24, 2020
Day 329 of 366

November 24th is the 329th day of the year. It is Lachit Divas in Assam, a state in northeastern India. Lachit Day commemorates the heroism of Lachit Borphukan and the victory of the Assamese army at the Battle of Saraighat, an event that thwarted a drawn-out attempt by Mughal forces under the command of Ramsingh I to take over the Ahom kingdom.

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

Historical items of note:

  • In 1835, the Texas Provincial Government authorized the creation of a horse-mounted police force called the Texas Rangers. The force is now the Texas Ranger Division of the Texas Department of Public Safety.
  • In 1868, pianist and composer Scott Joplin was born.
  • In 1877, Anna Sewell’s animal welfare novel Black Beauty was published.
  • In 1925, Dutch-Swiss particle accelerator physicist and engineer Simon van der Meer was born. A Nobel Prize laureate, he shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1984 with Carlo Rubbia for contributions to the CERN project which led to the discovery of the W and Z particles, two of the most fundamental constituents of matter.
  • In 1926, Chinese-American physicist and academic Tsung-Dao Lee was born. A Nobel Prize laureate, he is known for his work on parity violation, the Lee Model, particle physics, relativistic heavy ion (RHIC) physics, nontopological solitons, and soliton stars.
  • In 1947, actor Dwight Schultz was born.
  • Also in 1947, the United States House of Representatives Committee on Un-American Activities found the “Hollywood Ten” in contempt because of their refusal to reveal whether they were communists. The group of screenwriters and directors included Alvah Bessie, Herbert Biberman, Lester Cole, Edward Dmytryk, Ring Lardner Jr., John Howard Lawson, Albert Maltz, Samuel Ornitz, Robert Adrian Scott, and Dalton Trumbo.
  • In 1957, actress and producer Denise Crosby was born.
  • In 1962, the influential British satirical television program That Was the Week That Was was first broadcast.
  • In 1965, Scottish actress Shirley Henderson was born.
  • In 1966, English tenor and actor Russell Watson was born.
  • In 1971, during a severe thunderstorm over Washington state, a hijacker calling himself Dan Cooper (also known as D. B. Cooper) parachuted from a Northwest Orient Airlines plane with $200,000 in ransom money. He has never been found.
  • In 1974, Donald Johanson and Tom Gray discovered the 40% complete Australopithecus afarensis skeleton, nicknamed “Lucy” (after The Beatles song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”), in the Awash Valley of Ethiopia’s Afar Depression.
  • In 1977, actor Colin Hanks was born.
  • In 1978, actress and producer Katherine Heigl was born.

November 24th is Evolution Day, commemorating the anniversary of the initial publication of On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin in 1859.

Such celebrations have been held for over a century, but the specific term “Evolution Day” is a neologism which was coined prior to 1997. By highlighting Darwin’s contributions to science, the day’s events are used to educate about evolutionary biology.

It is similar to the better-known Darwin Day, the commemoration of his birth on February 12, 1809. It is unrelated to the secularization campaign by the Giordano Bruno Foundation to have the German public holiday of Ascension Day renamed to “Evolutionstag” (Evolution Day).

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 – November 23

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

November 23, 2020
Day 328 of 366

November 23rd is the 328th day of the year. It is Labor Thanksgiving Day in Japan. Known locally as 勤労感謝の日 (Kinrō Kansha no Hi), it is an occasion to commemorate labor and production and give one another thanks.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Cashew Day, National Eat a Cranberry Day, and National Espresso Day.

Historical items of note:

  • In 534 BC, Thespis of Icaria became the first recorded actor to portray a character on stage. Hence, one imagines, the term thespian.
  • In 1644, John Milton published Areopagitica, a pamphlet decrying censorship.
  • In 1887, English actor Boris Karloff was born.
  • In 1888, comedian and musician Harpo Marx was born.
  • In 1889, the first jukebox went into operation at the Palais Royale Saloon in San Francisco.
  • In 1916, Malaysian-English actor Michael Gough was born.
  • In 1924, Edwin Hubble’s discovery that the Andromeda “nebula” is actually another island galaxy far outside of our own Milky Way was first published in The New York Times.
  • In 1925, composer and conductor Johnny Mandel was born.
  • In 1959, English-American actor Maxwell Caulfield was born.
  • In 1963, Doctor Who premiered on the BBC. The pilot episode, An Unearthly Child, began the first four-part serial of the franchise and started the world’s longest running science fiction drama.
  • In 1970, Israeli-American actor Oded Fehr was born.
  • In 1976, apneist Jacques Mayol became the first man to reach a depth of 100 meters undersea without breathing equipment.
  • In 1992, the first smartphone, the IBM Simon, was introduced at COMDEX in Las Vegas, Nevada.
  • In 2013, Doctor Who celebrated its 50th anniversary with multiple television events in the week surrounding the event. Paul McGann returned as the Eighth Doctor in The Night of the Doctor, the origins of the franchise were explored in An Adventure in Space and Time, and most of the surviving classic-era lead actors starred in the parody The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot. The crown jewel of the celebration was the multi-Doctor episode The Day of the Doctor.
  • In 2015, Blue Origin’s New Shepard space vehicle became the first rocket to successfully fly to space and then return to Earth for a controlled, vertical landing.

November 23rd is the Repudiation Day in Frederick County, Maryland in the United States.

In 1765, the judges of Frederick County became the first to repudiate the British Stamp Act, a tax which was designed to cover the costs of keeping British troops in the American colonies. Frederick County judges decided that they were not going to charge the tax and refused to stamp the documents. Furthermore, the stamps had not arrived from Britain, and the colonists had not been properly notified. The late Judge Edward Delaplaine called the 12 Frederick County judges who repudiated the Stamp Act the “12 immortal judges.”

Each year, the Frederick Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) hosts a tea party to celebrate Repudiation Day. Tea and crumpets are served, and the Clerk of the Court reads the original proclamation passed by the judges and the Maryland Provincial Assembly in November 1765.

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 – November 22

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

November 22, 2020
Day 327 of 366

November 22nd is the 327th day of the year. It is Independence Day in Lebanon as they celebrate the nation’s independence from France in 1943.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Cranberry Relish Day.

Historical items of note:

  • In 1574, Spanish navigator Juan Fernández discovered islands now known as the Juan Fernández Islands off Chile.
  • In 1921, comedian, actor, rapper, and screenwriter Rodney Dangerfield was born.
  • In 1928, Ravel’s Boléro had its premier performance in Paris.
  • In 1932, actor and director Robert Vaughn was born.
  • In 1935, the China Clipper inaugurated the first commercial transpacific air service, connecting Alameda, California with Manila.
  • In 1940, actor, director, animator, and screenwriter Terry Gilliam was born.
  • In 1954, the Humane Society of the United States was founded.
  • In 1958, actress Jamie Lee Curtis was born.
  • In 1963, United States President John F. Kennedy was assassinated and Texas Governor John Connally was seriously wounded. Upon leaving the scene, alleged assassin Lee Harvey Oswald killed Dallas Police officer J. D. Tippit. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as the 36th President of the United States afterwards.
  • In 1965, Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen was born.
  • In 1967, actor and activist Mark Ruffalo was born.
  • In 1968, Star Trek episode “Plato’s Stepchildren” was first aired. The episode features a passionate (but forced) kiss between James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and Lieutenant Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) which is usually described as the first scripted interracial kiss of that kind between a white man and a black woman on American television.
  • In 1977, British Airways inaugurated a regular London to New York City supersonic Concorde service.
  • In 1984, Fred Rogers of Mister Rogers Neighborhood presented one of his famous sweaters to the Smithsonian Institution.
  • Also in 1984, actress Scarlett Johansson was born.
  • In 1987, two Chicago television stations were hijacked by an unknown pirate dressed as Max Headroom. They interrupted Doctor Who, y’all.
  • In 1989, actor Alden Ehrenreich was born.
  • In 1990, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher withdrew from the Conservative Party leadership election, confirming the end of her Prime-Ministership.
  • In 1994, the Sega Saturn was released in Japan.
  • In 1995, Toy Story was released as the first feature-length film created completely using computer-generated imagery.
  • Also in 1995, actress Katherine McNamara was born.
  • In 2005, Angela Merkel became the first female Chancellor of Germany.

November 22nd is the Day of the Albanian Alphabet.

Prior to the this date in 1908, the Albanian language was represented by a combination of six or more distinct alphabets, plus a number of sub-variants.

Between November 14th and 22nd of 1908, the Congress of Manastir (Kongresi i Manastirit in Albanian) was held as an academic conference in the city of Manastir (now known as Bitola). Their goal was standardizing the Albanian alphabet.

The day upon which the Congress was adjourned is now a commemorative day in Albania, Kosovo, and North Macedonia, as well as among the Albanian diaspora, known as Dita e Alfabetit.

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.