01/20 Open Thread - Martin Luther King Jr. Day

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On this day in history:

1404 - Europe's first public bank, the Taula de canvi, opened in Barcelona

1567 – Portuguese forces drove the French out of Rio de Janeiro for good.

1649 – Charles I of England went on trial for treason and other "high crimes".

1783 – Great Britain signed preliminary articles of peace with France, setting up the end of the American Revolutionary War

1839 – In the Battle of Yungay, Chile defeated an alliance between Peru and Bolivia and broke up that alliance.

1841 – Hong Kong Island was occupied by the British.

1887 – The US Senate allowed the Navy to lease Pearl Harbor as a naval base.

1949 – Truman announced the Point Four Program for economic aid to poor countries

1954 – The National Negro Network was established in the US with 40 charter member radio stations.

1974 – China gained control over the Paracel Islands after the Battle of the Paracel Islands between the naval forces of China and South Vietnam

1981 – Twenty minutes after the inauguration of Ronald Reagan Iran released 52 American hostages whose prior release had been held up by Iran at the request of the GOP to create a political campaign talking point.

1986 – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was celebrated as a US federal holiday for the first time.

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Some people who were born on this day:

In natural science the principles of truth ought to be confirmed by observation.

~~ Carl Linnaeus the Younger

1029 – Alp Arslan, sultan 1526 – Rafael Bombelli, mathematician 1573 – Simon Marius, astronomer and academic who made the first observations of the Galilean moons of Jupiter 1716 – Jean-Jacques Barthélemy, archaeologist and numismatist, first to decipher palmyrene and phoenician 1741 – Carl Linnaeus the Younger, botanist and author 1775 – André-Marie Ampère, physicist and mathematician 1856 – Harriot Stanton Blatch, suffragist and organizer 1879 – Ruth St. Denis, modern dance pioneer 1883 – Enoch L. Johnson, New Jersey businessman 1883 – Forrest Wilson, journalist and author 1888 – Lead Belly, legendary singer, songwriter, guitarist, prone to social commentary 1895 – Gábor Szegő, mathematician 1910 – Joy Adamson, painter and author 1918 – Juan García Esquivel, pianist, composer, and bandleader 1920 – Federico Fellini, director and screenwriter 1922 – Ray Anthony, trumpet player, composer, bandleader, and actor 1923 – Slim Whitman, country and western singer, songwriter and musician 1926 – David Tudor, pianist and composer (think Nash) 1931 – David Lee, physicist and academic 1931 – Hachidai Nakamura, pianist and composer (think Sukiyaki) 1952 – Paul Stanley, singer,songwriter, guitarist, and producer 1957 – Andy Sheppard, saxophonist and composer 1960 – Scott Thunes, bass player 1979 – Rob Bourdon, musician and songwriter

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Some people who died on this day:

What we think or what we know or what we believe is in the end of little consequence. The only thing of consequence is what we do

~~ John Ruskin

Actual and aspiring politicians take note of the above and make it your action principle; what you do is what you are - what you claim to believe or think you believe is irrelevant, Talk Is Cheap!

1900 – John Ruskin, painter and critic 1921 – Mary Watson Whitney,astronomer and academic 1947 – Andrew Volstead, can you say "Volstead Act"? 1962 – Robinson Jeffers, poet and philosopher 1965 – Alan Freed, DJ, not like "DJ badass whoop-de-do", but a real Disc Jockey 1996 – Gerry Mulligan, saxophonist and composer who was part of the birth of cool 2012 – Etta James, singer and songwriter 2012 – John Levy, bassist and manager 2022 – Meat Loaf, singer and actor

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Some Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such: Martin Luther King Jr. Day Leadbelly's Birthday (Unofficial)

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