Today is day 342 of the Gregorian Calendar year, Sweetmorn, The Aftermath 49, 3186 YOLD And let us not forget 13.0.8.1.8 (the Mayan Long Count)
National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day (United States) When I was a kid, that was simply Pearl Harbor day and it was arguably a bigger deal. (VJ day was absolutely a much, much bigger deal back then). Because it is an official day of remembrance, the US flag should be flown at half-staff. Of course, a great percentage of those displayed by the average citizen are simply nailed or stapled to a stick and since that violates "flag ettiquette" and the "Flag Code" in many ways already, who cares, so long as everybody knows you are a True Patriot(tm) That goes triple for all those who fly them from their car or the bed of their pick-em-up truk. (Sorry, didn't plan on going off on that tangent. That's the problem with letting folks like me write stream-of-consciousness material.) So, December 7, 1941, 79 years ago today, an unprovoked attack on the US by a foreign nation that led us into war. The last such attack and the last such war. Damn, it's been a long time, especially insofar as we've been involved in wars of one type or another continuously ever since. Maybe that's why it's not such a big deal any more.
On this day in history:
43 BCE – Marcus Tullius Cicero was assassinated in Formia. 1732 – The Royal Opera House opened at Covent Garden, London, England. 1776 – Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, arranged to enter the US military 1787 – Delaware became the first state to ratify the United States Constitution. 1842 – First concert of the New York Philharmonic 1922 – The Parliament of Northern Ireland voted to remain a part of the UK 1932 – Albert Einstein was granted an American visa. 1941 – The Imperial Japanese Navy carried out a surprise attack on the US Pacific Fleet and its defending Army and Marine air forces at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. 1949 – The Government of the Republic of China moved from Nanking to Taipei, Taiwan. 1965 – Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras I simultaneously revoked mutual excommunications that had been in place since 1054. 1972 – Apollo 17 was launched. The crew took the photograph known as The Blue Marble as they left the Earth. 1995 – The Galileo spacecraft arrived at Jupiter 2017 – The Australian Marriage Amendment Bill to legally recognize same-sex marriages passed
Born this day in:
I've learned that life is very tricky business: Each person needs to find what they want to do in life and not be dissuaded when people question them.
~~Eli Wallach
I never dreamed I would do Westerns. ~~ Eli Wallach
903 – Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi, astronomer and author 967 – Abu-Sa'id Abul-Khayr, Sufi poet 1598 – Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Sculptor and painter 1643 – Giovanni Battista Falda, architect and engraver 1637 – Bernardo Pasquini, organist and composer 1810 – Theodor Schwann, physiologist and biologist 1823 – Leopold Kronecker, mathematician and academic 1863 – Pietro Mascagni, composer and conductor 1873 – Willa Cather, novelist, short story writer, and poet 1892 – Stuart Davis, painter and academic 1905 – Gerard Kuiper, astronomer and academic 1910 – Louis Prima, singer, songwriter, trumpet player, and actor 1915 – Leigh Brackett, author and screenwriter 1915 – Eli Wallach, actor 1924 – Mary Ellen Estill. mathematician 1928 – Noam Chomsky, linguist and philosopher 1928 – Mickey Thompson, race car driver 1931 – Allan B. Calhamer, game designer, created Diplomacy ( 1931 – Bobby Osborne, bluegrass singer and musician 1935 – Armando Manzanero, musician, singer and composer 1941 – Melba Pattillo Beals, journalist and activist 1942 – Harry Chapin, singer, songwriter, and guitarist ( 1943 – Nick Katz, mathematician and academic 1947 – Anne Fine, author 1948 – Gary Morris, singer, songwriter, and actor 1949 – Tom Waits, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor 1950 – Ron Hynes, singer, songwriter, and guitarist 1958 – Tim Butler, bass player and songwriter 1963 – Barbara Weathers, singer 1966 – Louise Post, singer, songwriter, and guitarist 1976 – Sunny Sweeney, singer, songwriter, and guitarist 1977 – Dominic Howard, drummer and producer 1979 – Sara Bareilles, singer, songwriter, pianist, and actress 1987 – Aaron Carter, singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor 1998 – Tony Yike Yang, pianist
Died this day in:
The sinews of war are infinite money.
The safety of the people shall be the highest law.
~~ Marcus Tullius Cicero 43 BC – Cicero, philosopher, lawyer, and politician 1562 – Adrian Willaert, composer and educator 1680 – Peter Lely, painter 1683 – Algernon Sidney, philosopher and politician 1817 – William Bligh, admiral, politician, and world class small boat sailor 1902 – Thomas Nast, cartoonist 1970 – Rube Goldberg, cartoonist, sculptor, and author 1975 – Thornton Wilder, novelist and playwright 1978 – Alexander Wetmore, ornithologist and paleontologist 1979 – Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, astronomer and astrophysicist 1985 – Robert Graves, poet, novelist, critic 1998 – Martin Rodbell, biochemist and endocrinologist 2004 – Jerry Scoggins, singer and guitarist 2013 – Chick Willis, singer and guitarist 2015 – Gerhard Lenski, sociologist and academic 2015 – Hyron Spinrad, astronomer and academic 2016 – Greg Lake, musician
Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such: International Civil Aviation Day Letter Writing Day National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day (United States) National Cotton Candy Day
Music goes here, iirc, well, With apologies ;-)
It's an open thread, so do your thing
Cross posted from http://caucus99percent.com
Edited to change 78 years into 79.