17 September: Did you know?

Did you know that it was on this day in 1683 that Antonie van Leeuwenhoek writes a letter to the Royal Society describing “animalcules“: the first known description of protozoa? Or that on this day in 1787 the United States Constitution is signed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania?

And on this day in 1809 peace was reached between Sweden and Russia in the Finnish War. The territory to become Finland is ceded to Russia by the Treaty of Fredrikshamn, in 1908 the Wright Flyer flown by Orville Wright, with Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge as passenger, crashes killing Selfridge. He becomes the first airplane fatality, in 1916, during World War I,  Manfred von Richthofen (“The Red Baron”), a flying ace of the German Luftstreitkräfte, wins his first aerial combat near Cambrai, France and in 1956 television is first broadcast in Australia. It was also on this day in 1976 the first Space Shuttle, Enterprise, is unveiled by NASA, in 1978 the Camp David Accords are signed by Israel and Egypt, in 1991 the first version of the Linux kernel (0.01) is released to the Internet and in 2006 Fourpeaked Mountain in Alaska erupts, marking the first eruption for the long-dormant volcano in at least 10,000 years.

Some birthdays to remember on this day are John Willard Marriott, American hotelier (1900-1985), Sir Stirling Moss, English race car driver (1929), Anne Bancroft, American actress (1931-2005), Damon Hill, English race car driver and 1996 F1 world champion (1960), Baz Luhrmann, Australian film director (1962), Anastacia, American singer (1968) and Flo Rida, American rapper (1979).

If you need a reason to raise a glass of bubbly on this day, why not join in the celebration of Heroes’ Day (Saint Kitts and Nevis) and (Angola), Operation Market Garden (remembered with parachuting and dedications on this day in the Netherlands) or perhaps Constitution Day,  Citizenship Day, Von Steuben Day (United States)?

For more information on historic events on this day, please go here.

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16 September: Did you know?

Did you know that it was on this day in 1620 that the Mayflower starts her voyage to North America? Or that it was on this day in 1795 the first occupation by United Kingdom of Cape Colony, South Africa with the Battle of Hout Bay, after successive victories at the Battle of Muizenberg and Wynberg, after William V requested protection against revolutionary France’s occupation of the Netherlands?

And it was also on this day in 1908 the General Motors Corporation is founded, in 1941, during World War II,  concerned that Reza Pahlavi the Shah of Persia is about to ally his petroleum-rich empire with Nazi Germany during World War II, the United Kingdom and theSoviet Union invade Iran in late August and force the Shah to abdicate in favor of his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and in 1955 Juan Perón is deposed as the ruler of Argentina.

In 1966, on this day, the Metropolitan Opera House opens at Lincoln Center in New York City with the world premiere of Samuel Barber‘s opera, Antony and Cleopatra and in 1978 an earthquake measuring 7.5 to 7.9 on the Richter scale hits the city of Tabas, Iran killing about 25,000 people.

Some birthdays to remember on this day are James C. Penney, American department store founder (1875-1971), Lauren Bacall, American actress (1924), Charlie Byrd, American musician (d. 1999) and  B. B. King, American musician (both born in 1925), Peter Falk, American actor (1927-2011), Mickey Rourke, American actor (1952), David Copperfield, American magician (1956), Marc Anthony, American singer (1968), Alexis Bledel, American actress (Gilmore Girls) (1981) and Katie Melua, Georgian/British singer (1984).

If you need a reason to raise a glass of bubbly on this day, perhaps International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer (International) might be a worthy cause? Or join in the celebration of Independence Day for Papua New Guinea or Mexico, or Malaysia Day (Malaysia, Singapore).

For more information on historic events on this day, go here.

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15 September: Did you know?

Did you know it was on this day in 1616 the first non-aristocratic, free public school in Europe is opened in Frascati, Italy? Or that it was on this day in 1821 Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica jointly declare independence from Spain?

And on this day in 1835 HMS Beagle, with Charles Darwin aboard, reaches the Galápagos Islands, in 1935 the Nuremberg Laws deprive German Jews of citizenship and Nazi Germany adopts a new national flag with the swastika, in 1952 United Nations gives Eritrea to Ethiopia and in 1962 the Soviet ship Poltava heads toward Cuba, one of the events that sets into motion the Cuban Missile Crisis. Also on this day in 1981 the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approves Sandra Day O’Connor to become the first female justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, in 2004 National Hockey League commissioner Gary Bettman announces lockout of the players union and cessation of operations by the NHL head office and in 2008  Lehman Brothers files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history.

Some birthdays to remember on this day are  Ettore Bugatti, Italian automobile engineer and designer (1881-1947), Agatha Christie, English writer (1890-1976), Tommy Lee Jones, American actor  and Oliver Stone, American film director (both born in 1946) and Prince Harry of Wales, UK royalty (1984).

If you need a reason to raise a glass of bubbly on this day, International Day of Democracy (International) might be just your thing, or join in the celebration of Independence Day, celebrating the independence of Guatemala (a Patriotic Day), El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica from Spain or Engineer’s Day (India).

For more information about historic events on this day, please go here.

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13 September: Did you know?

Did you know it was on this day in 122 AD construction of Hadrian’s Wall begins? Or that it was on this day in 1501 Michelangelo begins work on his statue of David?

And on this day in 1541, after three years of exile, John Calvin returns to Geneva to reform the church under a body of doctrine known as Calvinism, in 1899 Henry Bliss is the first person in the United States to be killed in an automobile accident, in 1922 the temperature (in the shade) at Al ‘Aziziyah, Libya reaches a world record 57.8 °C (136.0 °F) and in 1956 IBM introduces the first computer disk storage unit, the RAMAC 305. It was also on this day in 1968 Albania leaves the Warsaw Pact, in 1971 State police and National Guardsmen storm New York‘s Attica Prison to end a prison revolt, in 1987 a radioactive object is stolen from an abandoned hospital in Goiânia, Brazil, contaminating many people in the following weeks and causing some to die from radiation poisoning. This is called the Goiânia accident and on this day in 2007 the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is adopted by the United Nations General Assembly.

Some birthdays to remember on this day are Samuel Wilson, possible namesake of Uncle Sam (1766-1854), Milton S. Hershey, American confectioner (1857-1945), Roald Dahl, British writer (1916-1990), Don Bluth, American animator (1937), Peter Cetera, American musician (Chicago) (1944), Anne Geddes, Australian photographer (1956), Emma Sjöberg, Swedish model (1968), Goran Ivanišević, Croatian tennis player and  Stella McCartney, English fashion designer (both born 1971).

If you need a reason to raise a glass of bubbly on this day, why not join in the celebration of Día de los Niños Héroes (Mexico), Programmers’ Day, during a non-leap year. (Russia and programmers around the world) or the ancient rites of Epulum Jovis, celebrated on the Ides of September, during the Ludi Romani. (Roman Empire)?

For more information on historic events on this day, go here.

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12 September: Did you know?

For the English version of this song, please go here (but, in my humble opinion, the English lyrics suck!).

Did you know it was on this day in 1846 Elizabeth Barrett elopes with Robert Browning? Or that it was on this day in 1848 Switzerland becomes a Federal state?

And it was on this day in 1919 Adolf Hitler joins the German Workers Party, in 1949 cave paintings are discovered in Lascaux, France, in 1952 strange occurrences, including a monster sighting, take place in Flatwoods, West Virginia and in 1974 Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, ‘Messiah‘ of the Rastafari movement, is deposed following a military coup by the Derg, ending a reign of 58 years. It was also on this day in 1977 South African anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko is killed in police custody, in 1990 the two German states and the Four Powers sign the Treaty on the Final Settlement With Respect to Germany in Moscow, paving the way for German re-unification and in 2003 the United Nations lifts sanctions against Libya after that country agreed to accept responsibility and recompense the families of victims in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.

Some birthdays to remember on this day are Maurice Chevalier, French singer and actor (1888-1972), Jesse Owens, American athlete (1913-1980), Stanisław Lem, Polish writer (1921-2006), Linda Gray, American actress (1940), Barry White, American singer (1944-2003), Rachel Ward, English actress (1957), Jason Statham, English actor (1967), September, Swedish singer (1984).

If you need a reason to raise a glass of bubbly on this day, why not look into the celebration of National Revolution Day (Ethiopia), National Day (Cape Verde) or perhaps commemoration of the mass hanging of the Saint Patrick’s Battalion (Mexico)?

For more information about historic events on this day, go here.

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5 September: Did you know?

Did you know it was on this day in 1666 that the Great Fire of London ends: 10,000 buildings including St. Paul’s Cathedral are destroyed, but only 16 people are known to have died? Or that it was on this day in 1698, in an effort to Westernize his nobility, Tsar Peter I of Russia imposes a tax on beards for all men except the clergy and peasantry?

And on this day in 1882 the first United States Labor Day parade is held in New York City, in 1945 Igor Gouzenko, a Soviet Union embassy clerk, defects to Canada, exposing Soviet espionage in North America, signalling the beginning of the Cold War, in 1960 boxer Muhammad Ali (then Cassius Clay) is awarded the gold medal for his first place in the light heavyweight boxing competition at the Olympic Games in Rome and in 1972 a Palestinian terrorist group called “Black September” attack and take hostage 11 Israel athletes at the Munich Olympic Games. Two die in the attack and nine die the following day in what has become known as the Munich Massacre.

Also on this day in 1978 Camp David Accords: Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat begin peace process at Camp David, Maryland and in 1980 the St. Gotthard Tunnel opens in Switzerland as the world’s longest highway tunnel at 10.14 miles (16.224 km) stretching from Goschenen to Airolo.

Some birthdays to remember on this day are  Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy, Russian writer (1817-1875), Jesse James, American outlaw (1847-1882), George Lazenby, Australian actor (1939), Raquel Welch, American actress (1940), Werner Herzog, German film director (1942), Freddie Mercury, Zanzibar-born English singer and songwriter (Queen) (1946-1991) and Michael Keaton, American actor (1951).

If you need a reason to raise a glass of bubbly on this day, why not join in the celebration of Teachers’ Day (India) or Jupiter Stator, commemorates that Jupiter helped Romulus to stop the Sabine invasion under Titus Tatius. (Roman Empire)?

For more information on historic events on this day, please go here.

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