Tag: The Thing About Today

The Thing About Today – November 11

Michael Falkner1 Comment

November 11, 2020
Day 316 of 366

November 11th is the 316th day of the year. It is Lāčplēsis Day, a memorial day for soldiers who fought for the independence of Latvia. It marks the victory over the West Russian Volunteer Army, a joint Russian-German volunteer force led by the warlord Pavel Bermondt-Avalov, at the 1919 Battle of Riga during the Latvian War of Independence.

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

Historical items of note:

  • In 1572, Tycho Brahe observed the supernova SN 1572.
  • In 1620, the Mayflower Compact was signed in what is now Provincetown Harbor near Cape Cod.
  • In 1675, Gottfried Leibniz demonstrated integral calculus for the first time to find the area under the graph of y = ƒ(x).
  • In 1864, Union General William Tecumseh Sherman began burning Atlanta to the ground in preparation for his march to the sea.
  • In 1885, American general George S. Patton was born.
  • In 1889, the State of Washington was admitted as the 42nd state of the United States.
  • In 1921, the Tomb of the Unknowns was dedicated by United States President Warren G. Harding at Arlington National Cemetery.
  • In 1922, novelist, short story writer, and essayist Kurt Vonnegut was born.
  • In 1926, the United States Numbered Highway System was established.
  • In 1930, patent number US1781541 was awarded to Albert Einstein and Leó Szilárd for their invention, the Einstein refrigerator. The device is an absorption refrigerator which has no moving parts, operates at constant pressure, and requires only a heat source to operate.
  • In 1934, the Shrine of Remembrance in was opened in Melbourne, Australia.
  • In 1962, Kuwait’s National Assembly ratified the Constitution of Kuwait.
  • Also in 1962, actress, director, and producer Demi Moore was born.
  • In 1964, actress Calista Flockhart was born.
  • In 1965, Southern Rhodesia’s Prime Minister Ian Smith unilaterally declared the colony independent as the unrecognized state of Rhodesia.
  • In 1966, NASA launched Gemini 12.
  • Also in 1966, Irish model and actress Alison Doody was born.
  • In 1967, Northern Irish video game designer David Doak was born.
  • In 1974, actor and producer Leonardo DiCaprio was born.
  • In 1992, the General Synod of the Church of England voted to allow women to become priests.
  • In 1993, a sculpture honoring women who served in the Vietnam War was dedicated at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.
  • In 2004, the New Zealand Tomb of the Unknown Warrior was dedicated at the National War Memorial, Wellington.
  • In 2006, Queen Elizabeth II unveiled the New Zealand War Memorial in London, United Kingdom, commemorating the loss of soldiers from the New Zealand Army and the British Army.

November 11th marks several observances tied to the end of World War I.

Fighting on land, sea and air was ended by the Armistice of Compiègne, also known as the Armistice of 11 November 1918, signed at Le Francport near Compiègne in France at 5:45am. The armistice was meant to take effect at “the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month” in 1918, but shelling continued until nightfall. The armistice initially expired after a period of 36 days and had to be extended several times, and a formal peace agreement was only reached when the Treaty of Versailles was signed the following year.

That event is commemorated in an annual event called Armistice Day. It is a national holiday in France, and was declared a national holiday in many Allied nations, however, many Western countries and associated nations have since changed the name of the holiday. After World War II, member states of the Commonwealth of Nations adopted Remembrance Day, while the United States government opted for Veterans Day.

Remembrance Day, sometimes known informally as Poppy Day due to the tradition of the remembrance poppy, is a memorial day for the members of their armed forces who have died in the line of duty, and following a tradition inaugurated by King George V in 1919, the day is also marked by war remembrances in many non-Commonwealth countries.

Veterans Day is a United States federal holiday that honors military veterans. Specifically, persons who have served in the United States Armed Forces and were discharged under conditions other than dishonorable. Veterans Day is distinct from Memorial Day, the public holiday in May that honors and mourns the military personnel who have died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. It is also different than Armed Forces Day, which honors those currently serving in the United States military, and Women Veterans Day, which specifically honors women who have served.

November 11th also marks National Independence Day in Poland, commemorating the anniversary of the restoration of Poland’s sovereignty as the Second Polish Republic in 1918 from the German, Austro-Hungarian and Russian Empires. Following the partitions in the late 18th century, Poland ceased to exist for 123 years until the end of World War I, when the destruction of the neighboring powers allowed the country to reemerge.

One of the beautiful traditions related to Armistice Day and Remembrance Day (and, to a degree, both Veterans Day and Memorial Day) is Canadian Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae’s poem “In Flanders Fields”. He was inspired to write it on May 3, 1915, after presiding over the funeral of friend and fellow soldier Lieutenant Alexis Helmer, who died in the Second Battle of Ypres.

According to legend, fellow soldiers retrieved the poem after McCrae, initially dissatisfied with his work, discarded it. “In Flanders Fields” was first published on December 8 of that year in the London magazine Punch.

It is one of the most quoted poems from the war. As a result of its immediate popularity, parts of the poem were used in efforts and appeals to recruit soldiers and raise money selling war bonds. Its references to the red poppies that grew over the graves of fallen soldiers resulted in the remembrance poppy becoming one of the world’s most recognized memorial symbols for soldiers who have died in conflict.

The poem and poppy are prominent Remembrance Day symbols throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, particularly in Canada, where “In Flanders Fields” is one of the nation’s best-known literary works.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
  That mark our place; and in the sky
  The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
  Loved and were loved, and now we lie
      In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
  The torch; be yours to hold it high.
  If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
      In Flanders fields.

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 10

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

November 10, 2020
Day 315 of 366

November 10th is the 315th day of the year. It is the birthday of the United States Marine Corps, which was founded in 1775 as the Continental Marines.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Forget-Me-Not Day and National Vanilla Cupcake Day.

Historical items of note:

  • In 1483, German monk and priest Martin Luther was born. He was the leader of the Protestant Reformation.
  • In 1766, the last colonial governor of New Jersey, William Franklin, signed the charter of Queen’s College. It was later renamed Rutgers University.
  • In 1847, the passenger ship Stephen Whitney was wrecked in thick fog off the southern coast of Ireland, killing 92 of the 110 on board. The disaster resulted in the construction of the Fastnet Rock lighthouse.
  • In 1865, Major Henry Wirz, the superintendent of a prison camp in Andersonville, Georgia, was hanged. He was one of only three American Civil War soldiers executed for war crimes.
  • In 1871, Henry Morton Stanley located missing explorer and missionary, Dr. David Livingstone in Ujiji, near Lake Tanganyika. He famously greeted him with the words, “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?”.
  • In 1889, English-American actor Claude Rains was born.
  • In 1925, Welsh actor and singer Richard Burton was born.
  • In 1928, Italian trumpet player, composer, and conductor Ennio Morricone was born.
  • In 1954, United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower dedicated the USMC War Memorial (also known as Iwo Jima memorial) in Arlington Ridge Park in Arlington County, Virginia.
  • In 1955, German director, producer, and screenwriter Roland Emmerich was born.
  • In 1960, English author, illustrator, and screenwriter Neil Gaiman was born.
  • In 1963, English actor Hugh Bonneville was born.
  • In 1969, National Educational Television, the predecessor to the Public Broadcasting Service, debuted Sesame Street.
  • Also in 1969, actress and producer Ellen Pompeo was born.
  • In 1975, the 729-foot-long freighter SS Edmund Fitzgerald sank during a storm on Lake Superior, killing all 29 crew on board.
  • In 1977, actress Brittany Murphy was born.
  • In 1983, Bill Gates introduced Windows 1.0.
  • In 1989, Germans began to tear down the Berlin Wall.
  • Also in 1989, Welsh actor Taron Egerton was born.
  • In 1990, Home Alone premiered.
  • In 1997, WorldCom and MCI Communications announced a $37 billion merger. It was the largest merger in US history at the time.
  • In 1998, Star Trek: Insurrection premiered.
  • In 2008, over five months after landing on Mars, NASA declared the Phoenix mission concluded after communications with the lander were lost.

November 10th is Martinisingen in Germany.

Martinisingen, literally “Martin singing” or “St. Martin’s Song”, is an old Protestant custom with a mix of several older elements. It takes place with groups of people carrying their lanterns from house to house and singing traditional songs.

Traditionally, November 10th was the day on which farmhands and ordinary workers were dismissed for the winter. Most of those workers had no property and had to survive the coldest time of the year without any income. However, their children were able to help by going from house to house on this day and begging for food and gifts, especially from the well-to-do farmers and citizens. They originally collected food that was then actually stored as part of their family’s winter stock and could be consumed gradually. Sometimes older singers disguised themselves or wore masks (sğabellenskoppen) and joined in the festivities.

As time went on, the gifts given out increasingly became a symbolic donation and, today, usually consist of sweets and fruit. The traditional gifts, by contrast, include gingerbread men (Stutenkerl), honey cakes (Moppen) and Pfeffernüsse (pēpernööten) as well as apples.

Part of the begging included reciting rhyming verses or singing suitable songs and the children carried lanterns (kipkapköögels) that used to be made from beets and small pumpkins. The lanterns were gradually replaced by colored paper lanterns. Various home-made instruments were also used such as rattles (Rasseln) and friction drums (Rummelpott).

With the outbreak of the Reformation, the original motive of supplementing winter food supplies became interwoven with religious aspects, particularly those honoring the reformer, Martin Luther, and the festival became the Protestant church’s version of the original Catholic tradition. In 1817, on the occasion of the tricentennial anniversary of the Reformation in 1517, Martinisingen was brought forward to the eve of St. Martin’s Day.

From that point forward, only Martin Luther continued to be celebrated as the “Friend of light and man of God” (Freund des Lichts und Mann Gottes) who “knocked the crown off the pope in Rome” (der dem Papst in Rom die Krone vom Haupt schlug). The custom of Martinisingen became a celebration of Martin Luther and the motive of begging for food was explained as a tradition of the monastic orders. The traditional songs were given a religious spin and new ones were written that celebrated the religious significance of the day or honored Martin Luther.

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 9

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

November 9, 2020
Day 314 of 366

November 9th is the 314th day of the year. It is Independence Day in Cambodia, which separated from France in 1953.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Scrapple Day, Microtia Awareness Day, and National Louisiana Day.

Historical items of note:

  • In 1520, more than 50 people were sentenced and executed in the Stockholm Bloodbath.
  • In 1620, Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower sighted land at Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
  • In 1801, surveyor and publisher Gail Borden was born. He invented condensed milk.
  • In 1867, the Tokugawa shogunate handed power back to the Emperor of Japan, starting the Meiji Restoration.
  • In 1906, Theodore Roosevelt became the first sitting President of the United States to make an official trip outside the country. He did so to inspect progress on the Panama Canal.
  • In 1914, Austrian-American actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr was born. She co-invented an early version of frequency-hopping spread spectrum, a guidance system for Allied torpedoes.
  • In 1934, astronomer, astrophysicist, and cosmologist Carl Sagan was born.
  • In 1951, bodybuilder and actor Lou Ferrigno was born.
  • In 1964, actor, director, and producer Robert Duncan McNeill was born.
  • In 1967, NASA launched the unmanned Apollo 4 test spacecraft atop the first Saturn V rocket from Cape Kennedy, Florida.
  • Also in 1967, the first issue of Rolling Stone magazine was published.
  • In 1984, A Nightmare on Elm Street premiered.
  • In 2004, Firefox 1.0 was released.

November 9th is World Freedom Day.

This United States federal observance declared by President George W. Bush commemorates the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of communist rule in Central and Eastern Europe. The date was selected due to its proximity to Veterans Day in the United States, effectively starting what some call “Freedom Week”.

I’m not one of them.

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 8

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

November 8, 2020
Day 313 of 366

November 8th is the 313th day of the year. It is National Aboriginal Veterans Day in Canada, a memorial day observed in recognition of aboriginal contributions to military service, particularly in the First and Second World Wars and the Korean War.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Cappuccino Day, National Harvey Wallbanger Day, National Parents as Teachers Day, and National STEM/STEAM Day.

Historical items of note:

  • In 1602, the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford was opened to the public.
  • In 1656, English astronomer and mathematician Edmond Halley was born. He used the laws of motion to compute the periodicity of Halley’s Comet in his 1705 Synopsis of the Astronomy of Comets. It was named after him upon its predicted return in 1758, which he did not live to see.
  • In 1836, businessman Milton Bradley was born. He founded the Milton Bradley Company, known for its family board games.
  • In 1847, Irish novelist and critic Bram Stoker was born.
  • In 1895, while experimenting with electricity, Wilhelm Röntgen discovered the X-ray.
  • In 1900, journalist and author Margaret Mitchell was born. She wrote Gone with the Wind.
  • In 1923, physicist and engineer Jack Kilby was born. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for his part in the invention of the integrated circuit.
  • In 1935, Mutiny in the Bounty premiered.
  • In 1949, All the King’s Men premiered.
  • In 1952, actress Alfre Woodard was born.
  • In 1960, John F. Kennedy was elected as the 35th President of the United States, defeating incumbent Vice President Richard Nixon, who would later be elected President in 1968 and 1972.
  • In 1965, the Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965 was given Royal Assent, formally abolishing the death penalty in the United Kingdom. Exception included cases of high treason, “piracy with violence” (piracy with intent to kill or cause grievous bodily harm), arson in royal dockyards and espionage, as well as other capital offences under military law. The death penalty would be abolished in all cases in 1998.
  • In 1966, former Massachusetts Attorney General Edward Brooke became the first African American elected to the United States Senate since Reconstruction.
  • Also in 1966, British chef Gordon Ramsay was born.
  • In 1968, actress Parker Posey was born.
  • In 1972, the premium television network Home Box Office (HBO) launched, initially transmitting to 365 Teleservice Cable subscribers in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. First operating as a Northeastern U.S.-based regional service, HBO was one of the first cable-originated television channels. HBO’s inaugural programming that evening consisted of its first event telecast (an NHL hockey game between the New York Rangers and the Vancouver Canucks) and its first movie presentation (Sometimes a Great Notion from 1971).
  • In 1985, actress Magda Apanowicz was born.
  • In 1999, the nineteenth James Bond film, The World is Not Enough premiered.
  • In 2011, the potentially hazardous asteroid 2005 YU55 passed 0.85 lunar distances from Earth, which is translated to 324,600 kilometers or 201,700 miles. This was the closest known approach by an asteroid of its brightness since 2010 XC15 in 1976.

November 8th is the International Day of Radiology.

The International Day of Radiology promotes the role of medical imaging in modern healthcare. It is celebrated on November 8th coinciding with the anniversary of the discovery of x-rays.

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 7

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

November 7, 2020
Day 312 of 366

November 7th is the 312nd day of the year. It is Hungarian Opera Day. A Magyar Opera Napja is a commemoration of the birth of Hungarian composer Ferenc Erkel (this day in 1810) and the reopening of the Erkel Theatre in Budapest.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Bison Day (typically the first Saturday in November), National Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day, National Canine Lymphoma Awareness Day, and National Play Outside Day (typically the first Saturday of every month).

Historical items of note:

  • In 921, the Treaty of Bonn was signed. Frankish kings Charles the Simple and Henry the Fowler agreed on this “pact of friendship” (amicitia) to recognize their borders along the Rhine.
  • In 1492, the Ensisheim meteorite struck Earth around noon in a wheat field outside the village of Ensisheim, Alsace, France. It is the oldest meteorite with a known date of impact.
  • In 1665, The London Gazette, the oldest surviving journal, was first published.
  • In 1775, John Murray, the Royal Governor of the Colony of Virginia, started the first mass emancipation of slaves in North America by issuing Lord Dunmore’s Offer of Emancipation. The order offered freedom to slaves who abandoned their colonial masters to fight with Murray and the British.
  • In 1786, the oldest musical organization in the United States was founded as the Stoughton Musical Society.
  • In 1837, abolitionist printer Elijah P. Lovejoy was shot dead by a mob in Alton, Illinois, while attempting to protect his printing shop from being destroyed a third time.
  • In 1867, Polish chemist and physicist Marie Curie was born. As part of the Curie family legacy of five Nobel Prizes, she was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the first person and the only woman to win the Nobel Prize twice, and the only person to win the Nobel Prize in two scientific fields. She was also the first woman to become a professor at the University of Paris.
  • In 1874, a cartoon by Thomas Nast was published in Harper’s Weekly. It is considered the first important use of an elephant as a symbol for the United States Republican Party.
  • In 1885, the completion of Canada’s first transcontinental railway was symbolized by the Last Spike ceremony at Craigellachie, British Columbia.
  • In 1907, Jesús García saved the entire town of Nacozari de García by driving a burning train full of dynamite six kilometers (3.7 miles) away before it could explode.
  • In 1908, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were reportedly killed in San Vicente Canton, Bolivia.
  • In 1912, the Deutsche Opernhaus (now Deutsche Oper Berlin) opened in the Berlin neighborhood of Charlottenburg with a production of Beethoven’s Fidelio.
  • In 1916, Jeannette Rankin became the first woman elected to the United States Congress.
  • In 1929, in New York City, the Museum of Modern Art opened to the public.
  • In 1932, the first broadcast of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century occurred on CBS Radio.
  • In 1940, the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapsed in a windstorm. This occurred a mere four months after the bridge’s completion.
  • In 1944, Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected for a record fourth term as President of the United States.
  • In 1950, Scottish actress Lindsay Duncan was born.
  • In 1954, Armistice Day became Veterans Day in the United States.
  • In 1967, Carl B. Stokes was elected as Mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, becoming the first African American mayor of a major American city.
  • Also in 1967, United States President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, establishing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
  • In 1989, Douglas Wilder won the governor’s seat in Virginia, becoming the first elected African American governor in the United States.
  • In 1990, Mary Robinson became the first woman to be elected President of the Republic of Ireland.
  • In 1991, Magic Johnson announced that he was HIV-positive and retired from the National Basketball Association.
  • In 1994, WXYC, the student radio station of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, provided the world’s first internet radio broadcast.
  • In 1996, NASA launched the Mars Global Surveyor.

At 1:45pm on November 7, 2020, edited to add:

  • In 2020, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were elected as President and Vice President of the United States. Kamala Harris became the first woman and first person of color to be elected to the position.

November 7th is International Inuit Day, a day to honor the cultures and histories of Inuit communities around the world.

Approximately 155,000 Inuit live across Canada, Greenland, Alaska and Russia. Three-quarters of Inuit in Canada live in fifty-three communities in the northern regions of Canada called Inuit Nunangat, which is comprised of four regions.

The Greenlandic Inuit are descendants of Thule migrations from Canada by 1100 AD. Inuit of Greenland are Danish citizens, although not the citizens of the European Union. In the United States, the Alaskan Iñupiat are traditionally located in the Northwest Arctic Borough, on the Alaska North Slope, and on Little Diomede Island.

In Canada, the United States, and Denmark, the term “Eskimo” was once commonly used to describe Inuit and Siberia and Alaska’s Yupik, Iñupiat, and Chukchi peoples. “Inuit” is not accepted as a term for the Yupik and Chukchi and “Eskimo” is the only term that applies across the Yupik, Chukchi, Iñupiat, and Inuit peoples.

Since the late 20th century, indigenous people in Canada and Greenlandic Inuit have widely considered “Eskimo” to be an offensive term, and they more frequently identify as “Inuit” for an autonym.

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 6

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

November 6, 2020
Day 311 of 366

November 6th is the 311th day of the year. It is National Saxophone Day in the United States, commemorating the birth of the instrument’s inventor, Adolphe Sax, on November 6th.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Jersey Friday (typically the first Friday in November) and National Nachos Day.

Historical items of note:

  • In 1814, Belgian-French instrument designer Adolphe Sax was born. He was the inventor of the saxophone.
  • In 1854, composer and bandleader John Philip Sousa was born.
  • In 1869, Rutgers College defeats Princeton University (then known as the College of New Jersey) by a score of 6-4 in New Brunswick, New Jersey. It was the first official intercollegiate American football game. It coordinates well with National Jersey Friday and National Nachos Day.
  • In 1880, Japanese businessman and politician Yoshisuke Aikawa was born. He founded the Nissan Motor Company.
  • In 1914, actor Jonathan Harris was born.
  • In 1946, actress Sally Field was born.
  • In 1947, Meet the Press, the longest continuously running television program in history, made its debut.
  • In 1957, actress Lori Singer was born.
  • In 1958, actor Trace Beaulieu was born.
  • In 1966, actor Peter DeLuise was born.
  • In 1972, model and actress Rebecca Romijn was born.
  • Also in 1972, actress Thandie Newton was born.
  • In 1986, a British International Helicopters Boeing 234LR Chinook crashed 2.5 miles east of Sumburgh Airport, killing 45 people. It is the deadliest civilian helicopter crash on record.
  • In 1988, actress Emma Stone was born.
  • In 2001, the television series 24 premiered.
  • In 2012, Barack Obama was reelected as President of the United States.
  • Also in 2012, Tammy Baldwin became the first openly gay politician to be elected to the United States Senate.

November 6th is the International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict.

This United Nations day was established on November 5, 2001 by the United Nations General Assembly. It’s focus is to prevent, by all of the tools from dialogue and mediation to preventive diplomacy, to keep the unsustainable exploitation of natural resources from fueling and financing armed conflict and destabilizing the fragile foundations of peace.

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 5

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

November 5, 2020
Day 310 of 366

November 5th is the 310th day of the year. It is Bank Transfer Day, a consumer activism initiative in the United States that calls for a voluntary switch from commercial banks to not-for-profit credit unions.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Doughnut Day, National Love Your Red Hair Day, and National Cash Back Day (typically observed on the first Thursday in November).

Historical items of note:

  • In 1499, the Catholicon was published. From the Greek Καθολικόν, the title means “universal”, and the book is referred to by some historians as the Catholicon Armoricum, in reference to Armorica which is a name for Brittany in Latin. Written in 1464, this Breton-French-Latin dictionary was the first for both the Breton and French languages.
  • In 1872, suffragist Susan B. Anthony voted for the first time in defiance of the law. She was later fined $100.
  • In 1895, George B. Selden was granted the first United States patent for an automobile.
  • In 1913, actress Vivien Leigh was born.
  • In 1938, author and illustrator Jim Steranko was born.
  • In 1940, Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first and only President of the United States to be elected to a third term.
  • In 1941, singer-songwriter and guitarist Art Garfunkel was born.
  • In 1949, actor Armin Shimerman was born.
  • In 1955, after being destroyed in World War II, the rebuilt Vienna State Opera reopened with a performance of Beethoven’s Fidelio.
  • In 1960, English actress Tilda Swinton was born.
  • In 1961, astronaut Alan G. Poindexter was born.
  • In 1965, Dutch model and actress Famke Janssen was born.
  • In 1986, the first United States Naval visit to China occurred since 1949. The ships USS Rentz (FFG-46), USS Reeves (CG-24), and USS Oldendorf (DD-972) visited Qingdao (Tsing Tao).
  • In 2007, China’s first lunar satellite, Chang’e 1, went into orbit around the Moon.
  • Also in 2007, Google unveiled the Android mobile operating system.
  • In 2013, India launched the Mars Orbiter Mission, marking its first interplanetary probe.

In 1605, Guy Fawkes was arrested in relation to the Gunpowder Plot. The date is commemorated as Guy Fawkes Day.

Guy Fawkes was arrested while guarding the explosives that the Gunpowder Plot conspirators had placed beneath the House of Lords. The plan was to blow up the House of Lords during the State Opening of Parliament on November 5th as the prelude to a popular revolt in the Midlands during which King Jame I’s nine-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, was to be installed as the Catholic head of state.

The plot was revealed to the authorities in an anonymous letter sent to William Parker, 4th Baron Monteagle, on October 26th. Most of the conspirators fled from London as they learned of the plot’s discovery, trying to enlist support along the way. Several made a stand against the pursuing Sheriff of Worcester and his men at Holbeche House. In the ensuing battle, leader Robert Catesby was one of those shot and killed. At their trial in January, eight of the survivors, including Fawkes, were convicted and sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered.

Guy Fawkes Day rose as a celebration of the fact that King James I had survived the attempt on his life. People lit bonfires around London to commemorate it, and months later, the introduction of the Observance of 5th November Act enforced an annual public day of thanksgiving for the plot’s failure.

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 4

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

November 4, 2020
Day 309 of 366

November 4th is the 309th day of the year. It is Flag Day in Panama.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Chicken Lady Day, National Candy Day, and National Stress Awareness Day (which is typically observed on the first Wednesday in November).

Historical items of note:

  • In 1783, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Symphony No. 36 was performed for the first time in Linz, Austria.
  • In 1847, Sir James Young Simpson, a Scottish physician, discovered the anesthetic properties of chloroform.
  • In 1879, actor and screenwriter Will Rogers was born.
  • In 1916, journalist, voice actor, and producer Walter Cronkite was born.
  • Also in 1916, businesswoman Ruth Handler was born. She created the iconic Barbie fashion doll.
  • In 1924, Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming became the first woman elected as governor in the United States.
  • In 1937, actress and singer Loretta Swit was born.
  • In 1950, actress Markie Post was born.
  • In 1952, the United States government established the National Security Agency, also known as the NSA.
  • In 1953, English animator, director, and producer Peter Lord was born. He co-founded Aardman Animations.
  • In 1961, actor Ralph Macchio was born.
  • In 1969, actor and producer Matthew McConaughey was born.
  • In 1973, the Netherlands experienced the first Car-Free Sunday caused by the 1973 oil crisis. Highways were used only by cyclists and roller skaters.
  • In 2001, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone premiered. I really enjoy the books and movies, but their creator… not at all.
  • In 2008, Barack Obama became the first person of biracial or African-American descent to be elected President of the United States.

November 4th is Community Service Day in Dominica.

Community Service Day, also known as National Day of Community Service or Community Day of Service, is a public holiday focused on a nationwide clean-up that follows Independence Day celebrations.

On November 4th, or the following Monday or Tuesday if Community Service Day falls on a weekend, Dominicans from all around the island participate in community projects. Notably, the government of Dominica provides assistance to communities, encouraging them to undertake specific projects. Ultimately, communities are free to choose any project to engage in.

The day has also focused on beautification initiatives, including through improvement committees and village councils. National Day of Community Service aims to promote volunteering, especially among young people, and the building of stronger communities.

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 3

Michael Falkner1 Comment

November 3, 2020
Day 308 of 366

November 3rd is the 308th day of the year. It is Independence Day in several locations, including Panama (celebrating Separation Day from from Colombia in 1903), Dominica (from the United Kingdom in 1978), and the Federated States of Micronesia (from the United States in 1986).

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Housewife’s Day and National Sandwich Day.

Historical items of note:

  • In 1749, Daniel Rutherford was born. He was the Scottish chemist and physician who isolated nitrogen in 1772.
  • In 1783, the American Continental Army was disbanded.
  • In 1793, French playwright, journalist, and feminist Olympe de Gouges was guillotined.
  • In 1817, the Bank of Montreal, Canada’s oldest chartered bank, opened in Montreal.
  • In 1838, The Times of India, the world’s largest circulated English language daily broadsheet newspaper, was founded as The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce.
  • In 1868, John Willis Menard (a Republican from Louisiana) became the first African American elected to the United States Congress. Because of an electoral challenge, he was never seated.
  • In 1910, actor Richard Hurndall was born. He was the second actor to officially portray the First Doctor on Doctor Who.
  • In 1911, Chevrolet officially enters the automobile market in competition with the Ford Model T.
  • In 1921, soldier and actor Charles Bronson was born.
  • In 1933, English-American composer and conductor John Barry was born.
  • In 1936, Franklin D. Roosevelt was re-elected President of the United States.
  • In 1948, Scottish singer-songwriter and actress Lulu was born.
  • In 1952, voice actor Jim Cummings was born.
  • In 1953, actress and producer Kate Capshaw was born.
  • In 1956, The Wizard of Oz was first televised on CBS.
  • In 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 2. On board was the first animal to enter orbit, a dog named Laika.
  • Also in 1957, Swedish actor, director, producer, screenwriter, and martial artist Dolph Lundgren was born.
  • In 1973, NASA launched the Mariner 10 toward Mercury. On March 29, 1974, it became the first space probe to reach that planet.
  • In 2014, One World Trade Center officially opened. It is the replacement for the World Trade Center Twin Towers, in New York City, after the towers were each destroyed by airplanes during the attacks of September 11, 2001.

November 3rd is Culture Day (文化の日) in Japan, a national holiday held for the purpose of promoting culture, the arts, and academic endeavor.

Culture Day was first held in 1948 to commemorate the announcement of the post-war Japanese constitution on November 3, 1946. The date of November 3rd was first celebrated as a national holiday in 1868, when it was called Tenchō-setsu (天長節), a holiday held in honor of the birthday of the reigning Emperor (Emperor Meiji), and following his death in 1912, the date ceased to be a holiday until 1927. At that point, Emperor Meiji’s birthday was given its own specific holiday (Meiji-setsu, or 明治節) which was subsequently discontinued with the announcement of Culture Day in 1948.

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 2

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

November 2, 2020
Day 307 of 366

November 2nd is the 307th day of the year. It is Dziady in Belarus.  Дзяды in Belarusian, Деды in Russian, and Діди in Ukrainian, it is an ancient Slavic feast that commemorates dead ancestors. The Polish, Belarusian, Russian and Ukrainian word means “grandfathers”, leading to the English translation as Forefathers’ Eve.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Deviled Egg Day, National Ohio Day, Color the World Orange Day (typically observed on the first Monday in November), Job Action Day (typically observed on the first Monday in November), and Traffic Directors Day (typically observed on November 2nd unless the day is on a weekend, in which case it moves to the following Monday).

Historical items of note:

  • In 1734, American hunter and explorer Daniel Boone was born.
  • In 1755, Marie Antoinette was born. She was the Austrian-French queen consort of Louis XVI of France.
  • In 1868, New Zealand officially adopted a standard time to be observed nationally.
  • In 1912, Bulgaria defeated the Ottoman Empire in the Battle of Lule Burgas, the bloodiest battle of the First Balkan War, which opened the way to Constantinople.
  • In 1913, actor Burt Lancaster was born.
  • In 1914, actor Ray Walston was born.
  • In 1920, KDKA of Pittsburgh started broadcasting as the first commercial radio station. The first broadcast is the result of the 1920 United States presidential election.
  • In 1927, author and illustrator Steve Ditko was born.
  • In 1936, the British Broadcasting Corporation initiated the BBC Television Service, the world’s first regular, “high-definition” service. High definition at that point was defined as at least 200 lines. The service was renamed as BBC1 in 1964 and the channel still runs to this day.
  • Also in 1936, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) was established.
  • In 1942, actress Stefanie Powers was born.
  • In 1947, designer Howard Hughes performs the maiden (and only) flight of the Hughes H-4 Hercules (also known as the “Spruce Goose”) in California. It was the largest fixed-wing aircraft ever built.
  • In 1949, author Lois McMaster Bujold was born.
  • In 1959, as part of the quiz show scandals, Twenty-One game show contestant Charles Van Doren admitted to a Congressional committee that he had been given questions and answers in advance.
  • Also in 1959, the first section of the M1 motorway, the first inter-urban motorway in the United Kingdom, was opened between the present junctions 5 and 18, along with the M10 motorway and M45 motorway.
  • In 1960, Penguin Books was found not guilty of obscenity in the trial R v Penguin Books Ltd, also known as the Lady Chatterley’s Lover case.
  • In 1961, Canadian singer-songwriter, producer, and actress k.d. lang was born.
  • In 1965, Norman Morrison, a 31-year-old Quaker, set himself on fire in front of the river entrance to the Pentagon to protest the use of napalm in the Vietnam war.
  • In 1966, actor David Schwimmer was born.
  • In 1983, United States President Ronald Reagan signed a bill creating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
  • In 1984, Velma Barfield became the first woman executed in the United States since 1962.
  • In 1988, the Morris worm, the first Internet-distributed computer worm to gain significant mainstream media attention, was launched from MIT.
  • In 1992, actress Naomi Ackie was born.

November 2nd is the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists.

The day draws attention to the low global conviction rate for violent crimes against journalists and media workers, estimated at only one in every ten cases. As these individuals play a critical role in informing and influencing the public about important social issues, impunity for attacks against them has a particularly damaging impact, limiting public awareness and constructive debate.

To commemorate the day, organizations and individuals worldwide are encouraged to talk about the unresolved cases in their countries, and write to government and intra-governmental officials to demand action and justice. UNESCO organizes an awareness-raising campaign on the findings of the UNESCO Director-General’s biennial Report on the Safety of Journalists and the Danger of Impunity, which catalogues the responses of states to UNESCO’s formal request for updates on progress in cases of killings of journalists and media workers.

UNESCO and civil society groups throughout the world use the day as a launch date for other reports, events, and other advocacy initiatives relating to the problem of impunity for crimes against freedom of expression.

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.