Happy JUNETEENTH, everybody! On this day in 1862, US Congress prohibits
slavery in United States, nullifying Dred Scott v. Sandford. News of the
Emancipation Proclamation only reached slaves in Galveston, Texas, three years
later to the day, on this day in 1865. The anniversary of this day is still
officially celebrated in Texas and 13 other states as Juneteenth!
"No man can put a
chain around the ankle of his fellow man without at last finding the other end
fastened about his own neck." - Frederick
Douglass
On this day in the year
240 BC, some old Greek dude by the name of
Eratosthenes correctly estimates the circumference of the Earth to within a few dozen miles. Pretty impressive!
On this day in 1934, the Communications Act establishes the Federal Communications Commission, still widely reviled as the FCC. On YouTube, you will find a little ditty from Monty Python’s Eric Idle that expresses many people’s feelings towards that particular institution…
On this day in
1953, husband and wife communist spy team
Julius and
Ethel Rosenberg are both executed at Sing Sing prison, in New York, for giving the Soviets technical information about how to make a nuclear bomb that accelerated their efforts in that regard by roughly one full year, according to one Congressional study.
On this day in
1954, the
Taz the Tasmanian Devil makes his debut in the Warner Bros. cartoon:
Devil May Hare! Today, millions of steroid-shooting, raisin-ball’d goons have adopted the whirling freak as an avatar of sorts, stamping his likeness on everything from muscle-shirts to vehicle mud-flaps. Anyone whose favorite Warner Bros. cartoon character is "Taz" is a person that you should try to avoid.
The first ever
Garfield comic strip is published on this day in
1971. It still holds the Guinness World Record for the world's most widely syndicated comic strip.
On this day in
1982, the body of God's Banker,
Roberto Calvi is found hanging beneath Blackfriars Bridge in London. The story of his downfall involves the
Mafia, the
Vatican, the
CIA and the
Freemasons. Folks, things simply do NOT get any more conspiratorial than
this story.
On this day in
1991, the USSR ends its occupation of Hungary. Some really top-notch pornography ensues.
On this day in
1981, the heaviest known orange in the history of the world – weighing in at an impressive five pounds – is exhibited in Nelspruit, South Africa. Meanwhile, on that same day in India, the APPLE communications satellite is launched into orbit. Apples and oranges! A coincidence? Yeah, right…
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