10/18 is Multicultural Diversity Day

Today is day 291 of the Gregorian Calendar year, Sweetmorn, Bureaucracy 72, 3187 YOLD And let us not forget 13.0.8.17.3 mlc (the Mayan Long Count) *****

Multicultural Diversity There is a story widespread in business circles that illustrates, to them, the importance of having a multicultural workforce. It seems that after much brainstorming a company came up with a catchy name for a new product and spent a fortune on promoting it, it did well but absolutely would not sell in Japan. After a couple of focus groups got nowhere, they asked the owner of a local Japanese restaurant if he had any ideas. Said owner immediately replied that in Japanese the name of their product meant dog shit.

The simple fact is that everything you say, write and/or do is filtered through a great number of perspectives. In addition, words with the same ostensible denotation often have very different connotations in differing languages. Exposure to other cultures and those from such cultures is beyond simply broadening, it allows you to think in new and different ways and understand things in ways you wouldn't have thought of otherwise. Not only is is simply something we should indulge in out of universal brother and sisterhood, but it is good for you and even useful.

History is said by some to not be about persons and their acts and lives, but about a variety of other things. Regardless of ones views on the matter, now and them one finds a historical personage who certainly seems to have had an abnormally great impact on the course of history. Far too often, such persons had careers that were, at least in part, of a military nature. One such was Prince Eugene of Savoy, who was born on this day in 1663. He is definitely worth a good read. Here's part of the preface to his entry in da wiki:

He first saw action against the Ottoman Turks at the Siege of Vienna in 1683 and the subsequent War of the Holy League, before serving in the Nine Years' War, fighting alongside his cousin, the Duke of Savoy. The Prince's fame was secured with his decisive victory against the Ottomans at the Battle of Zenta in 1697, earning him Europe-wide fame. Eugene enhanced his standing during the War of the Spanish Succession, where his partnership with the Duke of Marlborough secured victories against the French on the fields of Blenheim (1704), Oudenarde (1708), and Malplaquet (1709); he gained further success in the war as Imperial commander in northern Italy, most notably at the Battle of Turin (1706). Renewed hostilities against the Ottomans in the Austro-Turkish War consolidated his reputation, with victories at the battles of Petrovaradin (1716), and the decisive encounter at Belgrade (1717).

It is Persons Day in Canada where, on this date in 1929, it was decided that women were persons, fully entitled to participate in government.

It is also World Menopause Day. Being incapable of participating in the process, I shall not speak to the matter.

On this day in history:

1540 – de Soto's forces destroyed the town of Mabila and killed Tuskaloosa. 1648 – Boston shoemakers formed the first US labor organization. 1775 – Poet Phillis Wheatley was freed from slavery. 1851 – Moby-Dick was first published as "The Whale" 1860 – The Second Opium War ended with the ratification of the Treaty of Tientsin, 1867 – The US took possession of Alaska 1898 – The US took possession of Puerto Rico 1921 – The Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was formed as part of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. 1922 – The BBC was founded 1929 – The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council declared that women are considered "Persons" under Canadian law. 1945 – The USSR's nuclear program received plans for the United States plutonium bomb from Klaus Fuchs 1945 – A coup d'état overthrew president Angarita of Venezuela 1954 – Texas Instruments announced the first transistor radio. 1963 – Félicette, became the first cat launched into space. 1967 – The Soviet probe Venera 4 reached Venus 1979 – The FCC allowed people to have home satellite earth stations without a license. 2003 – Bolivian President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada was forced to resign and leave Bolivia. 2019 – NASA Astronauts Jessica Meir and Christina Koch made the first all-female spacewalk

Born this day in:

“the intuitive recognition of the instant, thus reality... is the highest act of wisdom”

~~ D. T. Suzuki

1130 – Zhu Xi, philosopher 1536 – William Lambarde, antiquarian and politician 1547 – Justus Lipsius, philologist and scholar 1587 – Lady Mary Wroth, poet 1616 – Nicholas Culpeper, botanist 1663 – Prince Eugene of Savoy 1785 – Thomas Love Peacock, author and poet 1850 – Basil Hall Chamberlain, historian, author, and academic 1859 – Henri Bergson, philosopher and theologian 1865 – Logan Pearsall Smith, author and critic 1870 – D. T. Suzuki, author and scholar 1880 – Ze'ev Jabotinsky, general, journalist, and theorist 1893 – George Ohsawa, philosopher and academic 1894 – H. L. Davis, author and poet 1897 – Isabel Briggs Myers, theorist (quack) and author 1898 – Lotte Lenya, singer and actress ( 1902 – Pascual Jordan, physicist and theorist 1904 – A. J. Liebling, journalist and author 1905 – Jan Gies, activist 1906 – James Brooks, painter and educator 1919 – Anita O'Day, singer 1919 – Camilla Williams, soprano and educator 1921 – Jerry Cooke, photographer and journalist 1921 – Beatrice Helen Worsley, computer scientist and academic 1923 – Jessie Mae Hemphill, singer, songwriter, and guitarist 1924 – Buddy MacMaster, singer, songwriter, and fiddler 1926 – Chuck Berry, singer, songwriter, and guitarist 1939 – Paddy Reilly, folk singer and guitarist 1939 – Jan Erik Vold, poet, author, and translator 1940 – Cynthia Weil, songwriter 1943 – Christine Charbonneau, singer and songwriter (d. 2014) 1947 – Laura Nyro, singer, songwriter, and pianist 1949 – Joe Egan, singer, songwriter 1949 – Gary Richrath, guitarist, songwriter, and producer 1951 – Nic Potter, bass player and songwriter 1952 – B?o Ninh, oldier and author 1955 – Vanessa Briscoe Hay, singer, songwriter, and keyboard player 1955 – Mark Welland, physicist and academic 1961 – Wynton Marsalis, trumpet player, composer, and educator 1963 – Sigvart Dagsland, singer, pianist and composer 1964 – Dan Lilker, American singer, songwriter, and bass player 1965 – Curtis Stigers, singer, songwriter, and guitarist 1967 – Eric Stuart, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and voice actor 1974 – Peter Svensson, guitarist and songwriter 1979 – Ne-Yo, singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer, and actor 1984 – Esperanza Spalding, singer, songwriter, and bassist 1985 – Andrew Garcia, singer, songwriter, and guitarist

Died this day in:

Don't take life so serious, son, it ain't nohow permanent.

~~ Walt Kelly (Pogo)

1564 – Johannes Acronius Frisius, physician and mathematician 1570 – Manuel da Nóbrega, colonist 1871 – Charles Babbage, mathematician and engineer, invented the mechanical computer 1886 – Philipp Franz von Siebold, physician and botanist ( 1889 – Antonio Meucci, engineer 1893 – Charles Gounod, composer and educator 1911 – Alfred Binet, psychologist and author 1931 – Thomas Edison, engineer and businessman 1934 – Santiago Ramón y Cajal, pathologist, histologist, and neuroscientist 1935 – Gaston Lachaise, sculptor 1942 – Mikhail Nesterov, painter 1973 – Margaret Caroline Anderson, publisher, founded The Little Review 1973 – Walt Kelly, illustrator and animator 1973 – Leo Strauss,political scientist, philosopher, and academic 1975 – K. C. Douglas, rural blues singer 1979 – Rebecca Clarke, viola player and composer 1984 – Henri Michaux, painter and poet 2000 – Julie London, singer and actress 2006 – Anna Russell, singer, educator, and actress 2007 – Lucky Dube, singer, songwriter and keyboard player 2008 – Dee Dee Warwick, singer 2009 – Nancy Spero, painter and academic 2012 – David S. Ware, saxophonist and composer 2015 – Robert W. Farquhar, engineer 2015 – Frank Watkins, bass player

Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such: Alaska Day (Alaska, United States) Multicultural Diversity Day Persons Day (Canada) World Menopause Day International Adjust Your Chair Day National Clean Your Virtual Desktop Day

Music goes here, iirc, well, With apologies ;-)

Prince Eugene

Lotte Lenya

Anita O'Day

Jessie Mae Hemphill

Chuck Berry

Paddy Reilly