Sunday Open Thread: September 2 is Liliuokalani's Birthday, Damnit!

The US recognizes but no longer really celebrates JV Day, and recognizes National Blueberry Popsicle Day, but not the queen we overthrew (by proxy) in order to seize Hawai'i. and it is also Setting Orange, Bureaucracy 26, 3184 YOLD (for you Discordians out there) World History this day 1752 – Great Britain belatedly adopted the Gregorian calendar. It didn't seem to make matters any better, but it didn't make them any worse either. 1807 – The British Royal Navy bombarded Copenhagen with fire bombs and phosphorus rockets. Over a thousand buildings were destroyed and the Daish fleet was partially destroyed, and partially captured and added to the British fleet. The point of the operation was to prevent neutral Denmark from chanigng its mind and joining the French during the Napoleonic wars. (The US isn't the only nation that refuses to allow countries to be neutral, isn't that comforting.) 1898 – The Battle of Omdurman where British and Egyptian troops simply slaughtered Sudanese tribesmen established British control of Sudan. The British were unaware that there was oil in Sudan and wouldn't have cared if they knew, so it is unclear why they wanted to own and run it, except that empire is habit forming. 1945 – Vietnam declared its independence, forming the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. It would take it 9 years to so decisively defeat the French (at Dien Bien Phu) that they would leave and give up their colony. Sadly, the US objected to their freedom, and they remained at war for decades. 1945 – The Japanese Instrument of Surrender was signed by Japanese Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu and accepted aboard the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. This ended combat operations in the Pacific Theater and, hence, WWII. It used to be celebrated in many countries, but now that unending war is humdrum and habitual, the celebration of peace accords has fallen off as being quaint or something. US History this day 1864 – US troops entered Atlanta which had been abandoned by the Confederates on September first. True southrons are still bitter about this for some reason. 2013 – The replacement Eastern span of the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge opened, just under 4 years after the Loma Prieta earthquake broke the old span. Science & Technology this day The Arts this day

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Misc. this day

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Birthdays of Note this day 1838 – Liliuokalani, the first queen regnant and last sovereign monarch of the Kingdom of Hawai'i. 1839 – Henry George, political economist 1917 – Laurindo Almeida, composer and guitarist 1928 – Horace Silver, pianist, arranger, and composer. Hard bop pioneer 1931 – Clifford Jordan, saxophonist 1932 – Walter Davis, Jr., pianist 1934 – Sam Gooden, singer, rooster, impression 1938 – Jimmy Clanton, singer and songwriter 1943 – Rosalind Ashford, singer 1943 – Joe Simon, singer and songwriter 1946 – Marty Grebb, keyboardist, guitarist, and saxophonist 1946 – Billy Preston, singer, songwriter, pianist, and actor 1946 – Dan White, twinkie aficionado 1948 – Christa McAuliffe, educator and astronaut 1953 – John Zorn, multi-instrumentalist composer. 1957 – Steve Porcaro, keyboardist and songwriter Deaths of Note this day 1910 – Henri Rousseau, painter 1934 – Russ Columbo, singer, violinist, and actor 1969 – Ho Chi Minh, civil rights activist and freedom fighter 1973 – J. R. R. Tolkien, writer 1975 – Mabel Vernon, suffragist and pacifist 1992 – Barbara McClintock, geneticist and botanicist 2012 – John C. Marshall, singer, songwriter, and guitarist

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So now some music

Liliuokalani

Laurindo Almeida

Horace Silver

Clifford Jordan

Walter Davis, Jr

Sam Gooden

Jimmy Clanton

Rosalind Ashford

Marty Grebb

Billy Preston

John Zorn

Steve Porcaro

John C. Marshall

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Photo: Internet Archive Book Images: Image from page 138 of "History of the United States from the earliest discovery of America to the present time" (1912) It's an open thread, so do your thing Crossposted from http://caucus99percent.com