Six Sentence Story and A to Z: Last

"I can't believe you bought that thing!" he said, staring at the large plaster of paris piggy bank, about as big as a medium size dog, sitting in the middle of the living room floor.

Piggy bank, super size.

"It was the last one they had, and it is so cheerful looking, and besides, it was only five dollars," she said.

"And how can you resist that sweet smile?" she went on to ask as he shook his head with that look that said he knew he was beaten.

The smile alone was worth the money!

"What are we going to do with it?" he asked as she moved it into one corner and then another, trying the effects.

"Why, we will save all of our change in it, of course, and when it gets totally full we will take the money out and spend it on some ridiculous and wild and frivolous adventure!" she answered.

"Okay, we can start with this," he said, depositing in the few coins he had jingling in his pocket, the first of many to come.

Linking up with Uncharted Blog and Six Sentence Stories, where the cue is Last.

Today is:

Ambedkar Jayanti -- India (birth anniversary of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, father of the Indian Constitution)

Americas Day -- Honduras

Black Day -- South Korea (for those who got neither Valentine's gifts nor White Day gifts; singles wear black and get together to eat black noodle soup)

Celebrations in the Houses of Ra, Osiris, and Horus -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Children with Alopecia Day 

Day of Mologa -- Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia (commemorates the destruction of the town of Mologa during the construction of the Rybinsk Reservoir)

Day of the Georgian Language -- Georgia (marking the 1978 protests of Soviet attempts to suppress the Georgian language)

Dogwood Festival -- Camdenton, MO, US (a rite of spring festival under the beautiful dogwood trees; through Saturday)

Elfin Choir Congress -- Fairy Calendar

Ex Spouse Day -- why?

Fiesta San Antonio -- San Antonio, Texas, US (annual celebration that honors the memory of Texas heroes who fought in the Texas war for Independence. More that 150 events, with sporting events, fireworks, dances...all culminating with the traditional "Battle of Flowers" parade! through the 26th)

International Moment of Laughter Day -- started by Izzy Gesell

Kentucky Derby Festival -- Louisville, KY, US (the warm-up celebration for the big race, much of which is free; through May 6)

Kinetoscope Day -- the first commercial exhibition of motion pictures through Edison's "peep show" device occurred on this day in 1894

Look Up At The Sky Day -- internet generated, no history on this one, but if it's a pretty day, take advantage of it (some sites say April 12, but since we don't know who started it, today is fine)

National Dolphin Day -- US

National Love Our Children Day -- sponsored by STOMP Out Bullying and Love Our Children USA

National Pecan Day

N'Ko Alphabet Day -- Mande Language Speakers

Pan American Day -- Order of the American States

Pathologists' Assistants Day -- US (American Association of Pathologists' Assistants)

Rato Machhindranath Jatra -- Nepal (chariot races for the god of rain; cannot confirm this year's date, but always begins mid-April)

Reach as High as You Can Day -- internet generated, and listed on various dates; a good idea, anyway, whenever you decide to celebrate it

Runic Half Month of Man (humanity) begins

Sacrifices to Leto, Pythian Apollon, Zeus, Hermes, and the Dioscuri in the Deme of Erichia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (date approximate)

Sidereal Equinox New Year Celebrations -- throughout South and Southeast Asia, including    

    * Assamese New Year, or Rongali Bihu (India's Assam Valley)
    * Bengali New Year, or Pohela Boishakh (Bangladesh and India's West Bengal state)
    * Burmese New Year, or Thingyan (Burma)
    * Hindu and Sikh New Year, or Vaisakhi (Punjab region)
    * Khmer New Year, or Chol Chnam Thmey, most commonly celebrated on April 13 (Cambodia)
    * Lao New Year, or Songkan / Pi Mai Lao, generally celebrated from 13 to 15 April (Laos)
    * Malayali New Year, or Vishu (India's Kerala state)
    * Nepali New Year, or Bikram Samwat / Vaishak Ek (Nepal)
    * Oriya New Year, or Maha Visuba Sankranthi (India's Orissa state)
    * Sinhalese New Year, or Aluth Avurudhu (Sri Lanka)
    * Tamil New Year, or Puthandu (India's Tamil Nadu state)
    * Thai New Year, or Songkran, celebrated from 13 to 15 April (Thailand)
    * Tuluva New Year, or Bisu (India's Karnataka state)


Sommarsblot -- Ancient Norse Calendar (celebration of the coming summer, with sacrifices to the gods over the next several days; through Walpurgis/May 1)

Spring Fair in Puyallup -- Puyallup, WA, US (fun for the family, every year since 1900; through Sunday)

Spring Hula Hooping Day -- try out the old hula hoop one more time, then toss it

St. Benezet's Day (Patron of bachelors, bridge builders; Avignon, France)

St. Lydwina of Schiedam's Day (Patron of ice skating/roller skating/skaters, prolonged suffering, sick people; Schiedam, Netherland; against bodily ills and sickness) 

St. Peter Gonzalez's Day (Patron of boatmen, mariners, sailors, watermen)

St. Tiburtius' Day (Considered the day the cuckoos return to England for the spring)

Takayama Spring Festival -- Takayama City, Japan (often considered one of the 3 most beautiful festivals in Japan; through tomorrow)

Youth Day -- Angola


Birthdays Today:

Abigail Breslin, 1996
Sarah Michelle Gellar, 1977
Adrien Brody, 1973
Anthony Michael Hall, 1968
Greg Maddux, 1966
Cynthia Cooper, 1963
Robert Carlyle, 1961
Brad Garrett, 1960
Emma Thompson, 1959
Ritchie Blackmore, 1945
Julie Christie, 1941
Pete Rose, 1941
Loretta Lynn, 1935
Rod Steiger, 1925
John Gielgud, 1904
Arnold Joseph Toynbee, 1889
Anne Sullivan, 1866
Emperor Momozono, 1741
Christiaan Huygens, 1629


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"The Boys in the Band"(Musical), 1968
"Bye Bye, Birdie"(Musical), 1960
The Grapes of Wrath(Publication date), 1939
"Jeux d'enfants"(Ballet), 1932
Murders in the Rue Morgue(Publication date), 1841
American Dictionary of the English Language(Publication date), 1828


Today in History:

Mark Antony, besieging Julius Caesar's assassin Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus in Mutina, defeats the forces of the consul Pansa, who is wounded, BC 43
Titus, son of emperor Vespasian, surrounds the Jewish capital with four Roman legions, beginning the Siege of Jerusalem, 70
Temur, grandson of Kublai Khan, is elected Khagan of the Mongols and Emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, 1294
The foundation stone of Cathedral St. Peter and St. Paul in Nantes, France is laid, 1434
Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush establish the first abolitionist society in the US, 1775
Napoleon calls for establishing Jerusalem for the Jews, 1799
Noah Webster copyrights the first edition of his dictionary, 1828
The Donner Party departs Springfield, Illinois, 1846
Harriet Tubman begins her first Underground Railroad run, 1853
William Bullock patents the continuous-roll printing press, 1863
Abraham Lincoln is shot at Ford's Theater by John Wilkes Booth, 1865
Canada sets denominations of currency as dollars, cents, & mills, 1871
Canada passes the Dominion Lands Act, 1872
The RMS Titanic hits an iceberg  at 11:40pm and sinks 2 hours later, 1912
The first Volvo car premieres in Gothenburg, Sweden, 1927
The Grapes of Wrath, by American author John Steinbeck is first published by the Viking Press, 1939
The Soviet satellite Sputnik 2 falls from orbit, 1958
The heaviest hailstones ever recorded, at 1 kilogram, hailstones fall on the Gopalganj district of Bangladesh, killing 92, 1986
The most costly natural disaster in Australian history, a hailstorm, strikes Sydney, Australia, 1999
The Human Genome Project is completed with 99% of the human genome sequenced to an accuracy of 99.99%, 2003
The Oregon Supreme Court nullifies marriage licenses issued to gay couples a year earlier by Multnomah County, 2005
Ash from Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano drifts towards Europe, causing air traffic to close over Northern Norway, 2010
The first-ever European MP's of Croatia are determined in an election held in anticipation of Croatia gaining formal entry into the European Union, 2013