Just Talk

"Where did my glass go?" Sweetie was searching high and low.  "I washed it, and I know I left it here, how could it disappear?" 

As we searched, i said, it's always something, isn't it?

To which Festus replied, "I have noted, in life, that it is always something.  In fact, it always tends to be something rather than nothing in life."

Laughing, i told him about Roseanne Rosannadanna and the line, "It's always something."

"Oh, I haven't watched Saturday Night Live in a long time," he said.  "And now I am bored with the search for the glass, so I shall go do something else."

Meanwhile, the search continued, until Sweetie remembered that he had put the glass in the freezer to get nice and frosty cold.  That man needs to go live on an iceberg while there still are some around.

One more crisis averted, i said, and Little Girl came in asking, "What about the impending crisis with that lady you know who has been such a, what do you call it?  Where she's just in it with the guy for the money?"

"Don't say it in front of your mother!" Festus said.

"Gold-digger!"  That's it!" she said, and he replied, "I can't believe you said such a word in front of your mother!  That's why I won't teach you any bad words!"

Laughing at both of them, i told them that the woman's day of reckoning was coming.  You don't play around with fire without getting burned.

"Just like you don't stand too close to a saw without the risk of getting cut, right?" Little Girl noted with a grin.  She had recently heard the story of how Grandpa wouldn't stand back far enough when warned many years earlier, and paid for it with a bad cut from a saw to his knee, which he proceeded to help sew up himself at the small town ER to which he was taken at the time.

That's right, i said.  Don't cross the IRS, and don't play chicken with the 5:15 train, either.

Today is:

Battle of Boqueron Day -- Paraguay

Constitution Day -- Brunei

Davidson Fellowship Scholarship Award Reception -- Washington, D.C., US (students under 18 who have completed prodigious works in science, mathematics, technology, music, literature, philosophy, or "outside the box" are made Davidson Fellows and given large scholarships for college)

Festival of Tezcatzonctl -- Ancient Aztec Calendar (chief god of intoxication; date approximate)

Gwynn ap Nudd's Fest -- Celtic Calendar (god of the underworld; date approximate)

International Coffee Day -- and i thought this was every day!  

Inventors Day -- Argentina

Make a List of the Top Ten Happiest Days in Your Life Day -- must have been started by an optimist

Mutation Day -- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

National Attend Your Grandchild's Birth Day -- attendingthebirth.com; a day to remind grandparents to be active in their grandchildre's lives (and if you need a reminder, i wonder about you; if you aren't allowed by bitter parents, i feel badly for you.) 

National Mocha Day

Quick Draw Day -- debut of Quick Draw McGraw and his side kick, Baba Looey, in 1959

Sts. Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and All Angels' Day  (Michaelmas)
     Archangel Gabriel, Patron of broadcasters, clergy, communication workers, diplomats, messengers, philatelists/stamp collectors, post offices and postal workers, radio and radio workers, secular clergy, telecommunication workers, telgraphers, telephones, television and television workers; Argentinian ambassadors; Seattle, Washington
     Archangel Michael, Patron of artists, bakers, bankers and banking, barrel makers/coopers, battle, boatmen/mariners/sailors/watermen, dying people, emergency medical technicians/paramedics/ambulance drivers, fencers and fencing, grocers and greengrocers, haberdashers and hatmakers, knights, milleners, paratroopers, police officers, radiologists and radiotherapists, security guards, sick people, soldiers, swordsmiths; for a holy death and safety at sea; England, Germany, and over 25 cities around the world; against danger at sea and temptation
     Archangel Raphael, Patron of apothecaries/druggists/pharmacists, blind people, doctors/physicians, guardian angels, happy meetings, love and lovers, mentally ill people, nurses, shepherdesses/shepherds, sick people, travellers, young people; Dubuque, Iowa; MacKenzie-Fort Smith, Northwest Territories; Seattle, Washington; against bodily ills, eye diseases/eye problems, insanity/mental illness, nightmares, sickness
     related observances:
     National Day of Remembrance for Policemen Killed -- Australia (St. Michael, Patron of police officers)
     Payment of Quit Rent by London Royal Courts of Justice -- Michaelmas is a traditional English "Quarter Day", when rents come due

VFW Day -- US (The Veterans of Foreign Wars was established on this day in 1899)

World Dairy Expo -- Madison, WI, US ("Dairy in our DNA" is this year's theme; through Saturday)

World Heart Day -- International (to raise awareness of the signs and dangers of cardiovascular disease) 


Birthdays Today:

Emily Lloyd, 1970
John Paxton, 1960
Bryant Gumbel, 1948
Patricia Hodge, 1946
Lech Walesa, 1943
Dave Wilcox, 1942
Ian McShane, 1942
Madeline Kahn, 1942
Jerry Lee Lewis, 1935
Anita Ekberg, 1931
Lizabeth Scott, 1922
Trevor Howard, 1916
Stanley Kramer, 1913
Michelangelo Antonioni, 1912
Greer Garson, 1908
Gene Autry, 1907
Enrico Fermi, 1901
Horatio Nelson, 1758
Miguel de Cervantes, 1547
Pompey the Great, BC106


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Grace Under Fire"(TV), 1993
"Thirtysomething"(TV), 1987
"Designing Women"(TV), 1986
"MacGyver"(TV), 1985
"Houdini, A Circus Opera"(Opera), 1977
"The Judy Garland Show"(TV), 1963
"My Favorite Martian"(TV), 1963
"The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show"(TV), 1962
"My Three Sons"(TV), 1960
"Outlaws"(TV), 1960
"The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis"(TV), 1959
"Sergeant Preston of the Yukon"(TV), 1955
"A View from the Bridge"(Play), 1955
The Barefoot Contessa(Film), 1954 
A Star is Born(Film), 1954 
"Make Room for Daddy"(TV), 1953


Today in History:

Darius I of Persia kills the Magian usurper Gaumata, securing his hold as king of the Persian Empire, BC522
Battle of Salamis, at which the Greek fleet under Themistocles defeats the Persian fleet under Xerxes I, BC480
Pompey the Great Celebrates ending the Mithridatic Wars on his 45th birthday, BC61
Saladin's army marches into Jerusalem, 1187
The First Congress of the US adjourns, 1789
"Scotland Yard", London's Metropolitan Police Force, goes on duty, 1829
The first practical public electric tramway ever opens in Blackpool, England, 1885
John D. Rockefeller becomes the first billionaire, 1916
The convention establishing CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) is signed, 1954
Alouette 1, the first Canadian satellite, is launched, 1962
WGPR in Detroit, Michigan, becomes the world's first black-owned-and-operated television station, 1975
Pope John Paul II becomes the first pope to set foot on Irish soil with his pastoral visit to the Republic of Ireland, 1979
The asteroid 4179 Toutatis passes within four lunar distances of Earth, 2004
The Dow Jones Industrial Average falls 777.68 points, the largest single-day point loss in its history, 2008
An 8.0 magnitude earthquake near the Samoan Islands causes a tsunami, 2009
The Koreas agree, for the first time in two years, to hold working-level military talks, 2010

Sad farewell.

We gather today to say good-bye...

All that's left, a hard drive that might have data to be saved.

...to our favorite family computer.

Coming in from a long session of work at the shelter -- sixteen cats on medications! -- i was greeted by Festus in the library with a very sober look.

His dad had him help build computers and servers when he was growing up, so he can take care of a lot of things computerwise.

He's been nursing our family computer along for a while with cannibalized parts from other computers.

This time, however, he was succinct.

"I think your computer is finally dead.  It says the hard drive is not registering.  It's not that the hard drive has been erased or can't respond, it just doesn't register."

Which means we've lost everything on there? i asked.  Not that there's much on there beyond a few pictures we might want, and Sweetie's bookmarks on Firefox.

"Probably not, you could go to your Rent-A-Nerd guys and they could get the data off of it, but the motherboard is likely dead and the hard drive isn't going to actually work any more, beyond just getting the data off of it."

"The hard drive is dated 2005, mom!  Face it, we just have to get a new one," Little Girl said.

"Well, not necessarily a new one," Festus stated.  "You can look on Craigslist and get a good, two-year-old computer for a decent price most of the time.  People who upgrade them all of the time sell their old ones rather cheap, and your Rent-A-Nerd could take the data from this hard drive and put it on a newer one."

"And we might consider a laptop instead, they're cheaper," Little Girl said.

The problem with that, i said, is that someone will decide to take it to his or her room and not return it, even if it is the family computer, and we'd have to go tracking it down.

"It's understandable that you'd want something bigger that would stay put," Festus grinned.  He knows who would be taking it the most.  "Also you might not really need all the data off the hard drive.  You could just ask for any pictures to be saved, and not worry about the rest of it.  That might make it cheaper, if they charge by how much data you want transferred.  If it's a flat rate, save it all.  If it's by the gigabyte, just save the photos."

Go ahead and look on Craigslist, i told Festus, and if you get a few good leads, i'll have you vet them to make sure the computers are actually any good before purchase.

"I can do that," he said.  "On Monday I will be here, I don't have work, so I'll get a few possibilities rounded up."

The hard drive is now in a plastic baggie with its cord, and the hulk of the computer is partway open and sitting forlornly at the desk, awaiting being taken to the donation center that recycles and refurbishes old computers.

One last suggestions Festus made.  "By the way, there's a product out there now that you can put your computer tower into that encases it and has a blower at the back so it has air flow and stays cool and yet it keeps the cat hair out.  You might consider getting one."

He knows we sweep up enough cat hair around here every week to knit ourselves a new litter of kittens, if we ever needed one.  Any time i take a computer to an actual shop, i warn them to take it outside and blow the hair out first.  Whoever invented a case to keep hair out of the computer had to be a geeky computer guy(s) who had cats, and got tired of having to dehair them.

Good idea, guys, and thank you!  Maybe our next one will last longer.  Only ten lousy years out of a computer?  (Heeheehee)

 

Today is

Act Like A Caveman Day -- internet generated, just to be fun, especially if your neighbors think you are crazy anyway

Antique and Classic Boat Rendezvous -- Mystic Seaport, Mystic, CT, US (pre-1963 power and sailing yachts, river parade, and Rum Runners Rendezvous celebration; through tomorrow)

Bayreuther Festspiele -- Bayreuth, Germany (Wagner festival, through Aug. 28)

Be Adamant About Something Day -- it's good practice

Carousel Day -- Johnson City, NY, US (Kids won't want to miss all the fun at this family event, and grown-ups, come be a kid again for a day!)

Commonwealth Constitution Day -- Puerto Rico

Culinarian's Day -- another one here because of the internet, but a good excuse to let your inner chef go wild, and enjoy the results

Ebernoe Horn Fair -- Sussex, England (ancient horn fairs were pagan fertility rites, now just a fun time for all)

Eve of the Hathor Festival -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Festival of the Knee-Knockers -- Fairy Calendar

Furrinalia -- Ancient Etruscan Calendar (Furrina, goddess of the sacred grove and spring on Janniculum hill)
      also Ancient Roman Calendar (to honor those who searched for underground water sources)

Geneva Arts Fair -- Geneva, IL, US (a juried event that is becoming one of the top such events in the US; through tomorrow)

Guanacaste Day -- Costa Rica

Guayaquil Day -- Guayaquil, Ecuador

Hanover Dutch Festival -- Hanover, PA, US (celebrating the area and it's heritage)

Ilyap'a -- Ancient Inca Calendar (festival of the lightning god; date approximate)

National Dance Day -- US (begun by Nigel Lythgoe, now a congressionally recognized day to encourage dance education and physical fitness, so go out and bust a move on a Saturday night, but don't bust you, please)

National Day of the Cowboy -- US  (celebrating the heritage, and those who still work as cowboys/cowgirls today) 

National Hot Fudge Sundae Day

"Paddle for Perthes" Disease Awareness Day -- to promote awareness of the children's condition called Legg-Calve-Perthes disease 

Republic Day -- Tunisia

Soma-Nomaoi -- Haramachi City, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan (wild horse chase which recreates a battle from over 1,000 years ago; through Monday)

St. Christopher's Day (Patron of archers, automobile drivers/motorists, bachelors, boatmen, bookbinders, busdrivers, cab drivers,epileptics, fruit dealers, fullers, gardeners, lorry drivers, mariners, market carriers, porters, sailors, taxi drivers, transportation/transporation workers, travellers, truck drivers/truckers, watermen; Baden, Germany; Barga, Italy; Brunswick, Germany; Fubine, Italy; Havana, Cuba; Mecklenburg, Germany; Rab, Croatia, St. Christopher's Island; Saint Kitts; Toses, Girona, Calalonia, Spain ;for a holy death; against bad dreams, epilepsy, floods, hailstorms, lightning, pestilence, storms, sudden death, toothache)

St. James' Day (The Apostle, brother of St. John and son of Zebedee, the first Apostle martyred; Patron of apothecaries/druggists/pharmacists, arthritis sufferers, blacksmiths, equestrians and horsemen, furriers, knights, laborers, pilgrims, soldiers, tanners, veterinarians; Altopascio, Lucca, Italy; Antigua, Guatemala; Bangued, Philippines; Brentino Belluno, Italy; Caltagirone, Italy; Cassine, Italy; Chile; Cicala, Catanzaro, Italy; Comitini, Italy; Compostela, Spain; Galicia, Spain; Gavi, Italy; Guatemala; Hettstedt, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany; Jemez Indian Pueblo; Loiza, Puerto Rico; Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina; Montreal, Canada; Nicaragua; Pistoia, Italy; Rivarolo Canavese, Italy; Sahuayo, Mexico; Seattle, Washington; Spain; Tesuque Indian Pueblo; against arthritis and rheumatism; sometimes called Jacob, the Latinized version of his name, also Iago and Jaques in Romance languages) related observances
     Dia Nacional de Galicia -- Galicia, Spain (National Day of Galicia, a/k/a Apostole Santiago, St. James the Apostle's Day)
     The Pilgrimage of Santiago de Compostela -- Galicia, Spain (one of the world's largest pilgrimages still, to the church that has the supposed relics of St. James, culminates on the Saint's feast day)
     Loiza Aldea Fiesta -- Puerto Rico

Sumidagawa River Fireworks Festival -- Tokyo, Japan (one of Japan's largest fireworks festivals)

Taylor Horsefest -- Taylor, ND, US (big enough to be fun, small enough to get you lots of time with the stars of the show, the horses! through tomorrow)

Tisha B'Av -- Judaism (begins at sundown, through tomorrow; fast in remembrance of the destruction of the First Temple in 586BCE and the Second Temple in 79AD)

Video Games Day -- yet another one, this on the founding of the "U.S. National Video Game Team"

World Congress of Esperanto -- Lille, France; through next Saturday


Birthdays Today

James Lafferty, 1985
Brad Renfro, 1982
Louise Brown, 1978
Matt LeBlanc, 1967
Illeana Douglas, 1965
Iman, 1965
Walter Payton, 1954
Nathaniel "Nate" Thurmond, 1941
Barbara Harris, 1935
Midge Decter, 1927
Estelle Getty, 1923
Jack Gilford, 1907
Walter Brennan, 1894
Maxfield Parrish, 1870


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"A Chorus Line"(Musical), 1975
"You Can't Hurry Love"(Single release), 1966


Today in History

Diocletian appoints Maximian as Caesar, co-ruler, 285
Constantine I is proclaimed Roman emperor by his troops, 306
The Edict of Pistres of Charles the Bald orders defensive measures against the Vikings, 864
Sebastián de Belalcázar, on his search for El Dorado, founds the city of Santiago de Cali, Colombia, 1536
Don Diego de Losada founds the city of Santiago de Leon de Caracas, modern-day Caracas, the capital city of Venezuela, 1567
Henry IV of France publicly converts from Protestantism to Roman Catholicism, 1593
James VI of Scotland is crowned James I of England, bringing the Kingdoms of England and Scotland into personal union; political union would occur later, 1603
Ignacio de Maya founds the Real Santiago de las Sabinas, now known as Sabinas Hidalgo, Nuevo León, México, 1693
British governor Charles Lawrence and the Nova Scotia Council order the deportation of the Acadians; thousands of Acadians are sent to the British Colonies in America, France and England, and some later move to Louisiana, while others resettle in New Brunswick, 1755
Horatio Nelson loses more than 300 men and his right arm during the failed conquest attempt of Tenerife (Spain), 1797
Costa Rica annexes Guanacaste from Nicaragua, 1824
The first commercial use of an electric telegraph is successfully demonstrated by William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone between Euston and Camden Town in London, 1837
The Japanese daimyo begin returning their land holdings to the emperor as part of the Meiji Restoration reforms, 1869
Kikunae Ikeda of the Tokyo Imperial University discovers that a key ingredient in Konbu soup stock is monosodium glutamate (MSG), and patents a process for manufacturing it, 1908
Sir Thomas Whyte introduces the first income tax in Canada as a "temporary" measure, 1917
The first transatlantic two-way radio broadcast takes place, 1920
Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union (TASS) is established, 1925
At Club 500 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis stage their first show as a comedy team, 1946
Italian ocean liner SS Andrea Doria collides with the MS Stockholm in heavy fog and sinks the next day, killing 51, 1956
The Republic of Tunisia is proclaimed, 1957
Louise Brown, the world's first "test tube baby" is born, 1978
Israel and Jordan sign the Washington Declaration, which formally ends the state of war that had existed between the nations since 1948, 1994
K.R. Narayanan is sworn-in as India's 10th president and the first Dalit— formerly called "untouchable"— to hold this office, 1997
Air France Flight 4590, a Concorde supersonic passenger jet, F-BTSC, crashes just after takeoff from Paris killing all 109 aboard and 4 on the ground, 2000
Pratibha Patil is sworn in as India's first woman president, 2007
Wikileaks publishes classified documents about the War in Afghanistan, one of the largest leaks in U.S. military history, 2010
Scientists in Britain identify the mechanism causing human allergy to cats; they believe a general cure for the condition could be available in the next five years, 2013

Just another day.

A clunk was followed by, "Oh, no!  There's a huge hole in my pocket!" as Little Girl reached down and picked up the new iPhone she just bought.  (Note that she bought it, with the money she is earning.  Grandpa offered to get her one, and she refused, she wanted to earn her own.)

"I've told you that you need to protect that thing," Festus said.  "Have you ordered a cover yet?"

"Yes," she answered.  "And this is the first time I've dropped it, and it wouldn't have happened if I didn't have this huge hole in the pocket that I didn't even know about!"

"You need to duct tape it to you until that cover comes!" Festus said.  "It's more fragile than a baby.  You can't just put it in your pockets.  Would you chuck your baby in a train car full of holes?"

That last question rather surprised me, but Little Girl even more so.  "What does a baby have to do with it?" she asked.

"Your phone is more expensive than a baby," he said.

"No it isn't!" she said.  "Think about how much a baby costs!"

"They aren't that much when you are carrying them.  And they don't eat much," he said.

"But when they are born, it's so expensive!" she said.  "And you have to buy furniture and everything!"

At that point i left them to argue out which was more expensive or fragile, a baby or an iPhone, as Red-headed Alec walked in.

"Well, I now know that I have to have a new job," he said.

Manager being a jerk again? i asked.

"That's one way to say it," he noted.  "The guy chewed me out in front of customers when I had done something right.  But of course, he wouldn't apologize in front of them when he realized he was wrong and I wasn't.  I have to get away from this place!"

Yes, you do, i said.  You do good work, and you need to be where it's appreciated.

"Well, I did have one thing going for me!" he said.  "I had a girlfriend for 4 days!"

Had? i asked.  Which of you broke it off?

"Oh, no, we're still together," he said.  "What made you think that?"

You said you 'had' a girlfriend for four days, that implies past tense, i said.

"Oh, you should know I speak American, not English!  English is more precise, but I only speak American.  Or maybe, what do they call it, Ebonics?" he said.

No, i told him.  You may have gone to public schools with a lot of African-American kids, but you are still a red-headed Irish American to the core, and i guess you talk like it!

At this point i noticed Festus had gotten up and pulled out a cigarette, and was going to head outdoors.  (Several of the boys who hang around here smoke.  It makes me furious, but they have to learn for themselves.  They are not allowed to do it indoors, and must clean up after themselves.)

Little Girl was tugging on his arm, saying "I was to crush it!  Let me!"

Crush what? i asked.

"There's this thing in the filter, and you are supposed to crush it before you light it." she said.  "And I like to do it for him, it feels so weird!"

What's in it? i asked.

"Around 4,000 chemicals, 3,000 of which are bad for me," Festus answered.  "At least, if I'm going to do this, I'm going to admit and be honest about what it's doing to me."

"Well, I hate the smoking, but crushing the little round thing in the filter is fun," Little Girl said.

Is that in all cigarettes now? i asked.

"Just some brands, it's a flavoring.  I just got used to it because it's the brand my mother smoked, and I used to sneak them out of her purse when I was about 14," Festus replied.

Well, don't you ever get used to it! i told Little Girl.

"Oh, don't worry," Festus said.  "Red-headed Alec, Young Jacob, both of your sons and I have already told her that if she ever smokes we will take turns beating her up!"

"And don't worry, they mean it!" Little Girl said.  "No smoking for me, I'm an athlete.  And I have a swim meet tomorrow!"

Today is

Armed Forces Day -- Great Britain

ARRL Field Day -- American Radio Relay League's most popular on-air operating event, in which amatuer/ham radio operators practice and drill for communications during emergencies; through tomorrow

Canadian Multiculturalism Day -- Canada

Colorado Brewers' Festival -- Fort Collings, CO, US (celebrate Colorado's rich brewing history with over 30 breweries; through tomorrow)

Day of National Unity -- Tajikistan

Day of Turkmen Workers of Culture and Art -- Turkmenistan

Day Sacred to the Lares -- Ancient Roman Calendar (personal household gods); also
     Festival of Jupiter Stator -- Jupiter, Stayer of the Rout, god who helped soldiers especially to stand their ground
     Initium Aestatis -- three day festival for the goddess of summer, which season they saw as beginning on this day

Decide to Be Married Day -- sponsored by Barbara Gaughen-Muller; to focus on the joy of couples deciding to be married

Eastern Music Festival --  Guilford College, Greensboro, NC, US (an acclaimed festival and school, with world-class guest artists; through Aug. 1)

Findle-Fritter's Stoat Wheedling Event -- Fairy Calendar

Gettysburg Civil War Relic and Collectors Show -- Gettysburg, PA, US (featuring leading collectors and dealers; through tomorrow)

Great American Backyard Campout -- sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation http://www.nwf.org/Great-American-Backyard-Campout.aspx

Great American Picnic Day -- various dates given, with the most common being the final Saturday of June

"Happy Birthday to You" Day -- tune composed this day in 1859

Independence Day / National Day -- Djibouti

Industrial Workers of The World Day -- founded this day in 1905

Ladies of Country and Bluegrass Music Show -- Waretown, NJ, US (at the historic Albert Music Hall)

Martyrdom of Joseph & Hyrum Smith -- Mormon

Mineral Collecting Field Trips -- Bancroft, ON, CA (every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday this month and next, geologists lead mineral collecting field trips, educating participants about mineral identification, collecting techniques, and earth sciences)

Mixed Races Day -- Brazil

National HIV Testing Day -- US 

National Indian Pudding Day

National Orange Blosssom Day

National Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Awareness Day -- US (by Senate resolution)

Purple Hull Pea Festival and World Champion Rotary Tiller Contest -- Emerson, AR, US (the tiny town of Emerson, population 368, puts on a big show that also includes a World Cup Purplehull Pea-Shelling competiton)

Seven Sleepers Day (Siebenschläfertag) -- Germany (according to legend, today's weather determines the pattern for the next seven weeks)

St. Ladislaus' Day (Patron of Szekszard, Hungary)

Sunglasses Day -- a reminder to wear those shades, protect your eyes from UV damage!

Veteranendag -- Netherlands (Veterans Day)


Birthdays Today:

Gabi Wilson, 1997
Madylin Sweeten, 1991
Ed Westwick, 1987
Drake Bell, 1986
Tobey Maguire, 1975
J.J. Abrams, 1976
Jason Patric, 1966
Isabelle Adjani, 1955
Julia Duffy, 1951
James Daughton, 1950
Norma Kamali, 1945
Shirley-Anne Field, 1938
H. Ross Perot, 1930
Bob "Captain Kangaroo" Keeshan, 1927
Helen Keller, 1880
Patrick Lafcadio "Koizumi Yakumo" Hearn, 1850
Charles Stewart Parnell, 1846


Debuting/Premiering Today:

Live and Let Die(Film), 1973
"Dark Shadows"(TV), 1966
"Captain Video and His Video Rangers"(TV), 1949


Today in History:

General James Wolfe begins the siege of Quebec, 1759
Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and his brother Hyrum Smith, are murdered by a mob at the Carthage, Illinois jail, 1844
George Dixon becomes the first black world boxing champion in any weight class, while also being the first ever Canadian-born boxing champion, 1890
The first solo circumnavigation of the globe is completed by Joshua Slocum from Briar Island, Nova Scotia, 1898
Sailors start a mutiny aboard the Russian Battleship Potemkin, denouncing the crimes of autocracy, demanding liberty and an end to war, 1905
Capt. Lowell H. Smith and Lt. John P. Richter perform the first ever aerial refueling in a DH-4B biplane, 1923
The United States decides to send troops to fight in the Korean War, 1950
The world's first nuclear power station opens in Obninsk, near Moscow, 1954
The world's first ATM is installed in Enfield, London, 1967
The President of Uruguay dissolves Parliament and heads a coup d'état, 1973
U.S president Richard Nixon visits the U.S.S.R., 1974
France grants independence to Djibouti, 1977
The current international treaty defending indigenous peoples, ILO 169 convention, is adopted, 1989
Slovenia, after declaring independence two days before, is invaded by Yugoslav troops, tanks, and aircraft, starting the Ten-Day War, 1991
Bill Gates resigns from Microsoft to focus on his charity work, 2008
The first democratic election in the history of Guinea is held, 2010
Tests show radioactive cesium is present in small quantities in residents of Iitate and Kawamata, Fukushima, towns located 25 miles from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, 2011
NASA launches IRIS, the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, a space probe to observe the Sun, 2013