08/07 is Assyrian Martyrs Day

Assyrian Martyrs Day is not concerned with the 1915 Assyrian genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Turks. It instead relates to many massacres of Assyrians by Iraq in 1933. I have decided to just blockquote piecs of two relevant wikipedia articles on the matter which are not, sadly, in full agreement.

Yawma d-Sahdhe ('Martyrs Day') Main article: Simele massacre A stylised Ṭabbakh (ܛܒܚ, 'August') in Syriac with the number 7 is often the symbol marking Martyrs Day. The Simele massacre (ܦܪܡܬܐ ܕܣܡܠܐ, Pramta d-Simmele) was the first of many massacres committed by the Iraqi government during the systematic targeting of the Assyrians of northern Iraq in August 1933. The killing spree that continued among 63 Assyrian villages in the Dohuk and Nineveh districts led to the deaths of an estimated 3,000 Assyrians.[2][3] August 7 became known as Martyrs Day (ܝܘܡܐ ܕܣܗܕ̈ܐ, Yawma d-Sahdhe) or National Day of Mourning by the Assyrian community in memory of the Simele massacre as it was declared by the Assyrian Universal Alliance in 1970.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assyrian_culture#Premta_d'Simele;_Martyr's_Day

The Simele massacre, also known as the Assyrian affair,[5] was committed by the Kingdom of Iraq, led by Bakr Sidqi, during a campaign systematically targeting the Assyrians in and around Simele in August 1933. An estimated 6,000 Assyrians were killed and over 100 Assyrian villages were destroyed and looted

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simele_massacre) Today is also Purple Heart Day On this day in 1782, George Washington ordered the creation of the Badge of Military Merit to honor soldiers wounded in battle. It was eventually renamed the Purple Heart.

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On this day in history:

1420 -- Construction started on the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore 1679 -- The brigantine Le Griffon, became the first ship to sail on the upper Great Lakes 1909 -- Alice Huyler Ramsey, became the first woman to drive a car across the continent (NY to SF) 1933 -- The Iraqi government slaughtered over 3,000 Assyrians in the village of Simele. 1942 -- The Battle of Guadalcanal started 1944 -- IBM dedicated the first program-controlled calculator, The Harvard Mark I. 1947 -- The Kon-Tiki, smashed into a reef at Raroia in the Tuamotu Islands 1955 -- Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering (Sony) sold its first transistor radio 1962 -- Frances Oldham Kelsey received the U.S. President's Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service for keeping Thalidomide out of the US market 1964 -- Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, inspiring the later, similar, Iraq WMD con job 1978 -- Jimmy Carter declared a federal emergency at Love Canal 1987 – Lynne Cox became the first person to swim from the US to the Soviet Union 1990 -- American soldiers arrived in Saudi Arabia to wage the Gulf war. 1998 -- US embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya were bombed, killing about 212 people 2008 -- The War over South Ossetia's seccession began.

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Some people who were born on this day:

There is less violence against labor today, but there are more legal restrictions... There has been labor protection by law but there has also been labor repression by law.

~~ Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, 1962

1560 -- Elizabeth Bathory, infamous serial killer 1844 -- Auguste Michel-Levy, geologist 1890 -- Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, author and activist, prominent Wobbly, founding member of the ACLU, and much more 1903 – Louis Leakey, palaeontologist and archaeologist 1904 -- Ralph Bunche, political scientist, activist and more 1910 – Freddie Slack, pianist, composer, and bandleader 1913 -- George Van Eps, guitarist 1921 -- Manitas de Plata, flamenco guitarist (gypsy flamenco) 1925 -- Felice Bryant, co-authored a lot of music for Everly Brothers, also CW 1928 – James Randi, stage magician, skeptic, debunkerf and author 1933 – Elinor Ostrom, political scientist, economist, and academic, 1933 -- Jerry Pournelle, Sci-Fi author 1935 -- Rahsaan Roland Kirk, jazz multi-instrumentalist 1942 -- Garrison Keillor, author, humorist, radio host 1942 -- B. J. Thomas, singer 1942 -- Caetano Veloso, singer, composer, activist and guitarist 1947 -- Sofia Rotaru, singer and songwriter 1961 – Carlos Vives, singer, songwriter, and actor 1962 – Alison Brown, banjo player, songwriter, and producer 1963 – Marcus Roberts, pianist and educator 1965 -- Raul Malo, singer, songwriter and guitarist (Mavericks) 1966 -- Jimmy Wales, try Wikipedia

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Some people who died on this day:

I've always shied away from conventional wisdom, though I know the power of it.

~~ Peter Jennings

1834 -- Joseph Marie Jacquard, weaver, inventer of Jacquard Loom 1938 -- Konstantin Stanislavski, an actor with awesome technique 2004 -- Colin Bibby, ornithologist 2005 -- Peter Jennings, journalist 2009 -- Mike Seeger, folk singer 2015 -- Frances Oldham Kelsey, pharmacologist

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Some Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such: Assyrian Martyrs Day Beach Party Day National Lighthouse Day Purple Heart Day

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Today's Tunes

Alice Huyler Ramsey

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