On This Day In History
Born on this day...
0336 St Mark ends his reign as Catholic Pope
1492 Columbus misses Florida when he changes course
1520 1st public burning of books in Netherlands, in Louvain
1571 Turkish fleet defeated by Spanish & Italians in Battle of Lepanto
1737 40 foot waves sink 20,000 small craft & kill 300,000 (Bengal, India)
1765 The Stamp Act Congress convenes in NY
1777 Americans defeat Brits in 2nd Battle of Saratoga & Battle of Bemis Hts. During the battle General Benedict Arnold was shot in the leg. Another bullet killed his horse, which fell on Arnold, crushing his leg. The "Boot Monument" sits close to the spot where Arnold was wounded, and is a tribute to the general’s heroic deeds during that battle. Although Arnold’s accomplishments are described on the monument, it pointedly avoids naming the man best known for betraying his country. The British forces, under Gen. John Burgoyne, surrendered 10 days later.
1780 British defeated by American militia near Kings Mountain, SC
1816 1st double decked steamboat, the Washington, arrived in New Orleans
1826 Granite Railway (1st chartered railway in US) begins operations
1868 Cornell University (Ithaca NY) opens
1886 Spain abolishes slavery in Cuba
1900 The term "orienteering" is 1st used for an event
1908 Crete revolts against Turkey & aligns with Greece
1916 222 points are scored in a football game between Georgia Tech & Cumberland University of Lebanon, Tennessee
1924 160 consecutive days of 100ø at Marble Bar, Australia begins
1927 Yank Herb Pennock retires 1st 22 Pirates in world series game (World Series #24)
1931 1st infra-red photograph, Rochester, NY
1935 Himmler/Hess and Reinhard Heydrich agree to build concentration camp Dachau
1935 Detroit Tigers beat Chicago Cubs, 4 games to 2 in 32nd World Series
1938 Germany demands all Jewish passports stamped with the letter J
1943 Approximately 100 U.S. prisoners of war remaining on Wake Island are executed by the Japanese
1944 Fieldmarshal Rommel gets order to return to Berlin
1944 Uprising at Auschwitz, Jews burn down crematoria
1944 Uprising at Birkenau concentration camp
1949 German Dem Rep formed from Russian occupation zone (National Day)
1950 NY Yankees sweep Phila Phillies in 47th World Series
1950 US forces invade Korea by crossing the 38th parallel
1950 The UN General Assembly approved a US-led UN force to advance north of 38th parallel into North Korea.
1951 David Ben-Gurion forms Israeli government
1952 NY Yankees beat Dodgers 4 games to 3 in 49th World Series - Yankees tie their own record of 4 consecutive World Series wins
1957 "American Bandstand" premieres
1958 Potter Stewart appointed to US Supreme Court
1958 US manned space-flight project renamed Project Mercury
1959 Far side of Moon seen for 1st time, compliments of USSR's Luna 3
1960 "Route 66" premieres
1963 Bobby Baker resigns as Senate Democratic secretary
1963 Hurricane Flora hits Haiti & Dominican Republic, kills 7,190 (And just where was George Bush?)
1964 NY Yankees make 14th appearance in last 16 & 29th in 61 World Series
1965 50 mph gust carries 165 lb Robert Mitera's tee shot 447 yards to score the world's longest straight hole-in-one
in Omaha
1967 Beatles turn down $1 million NY concert offer by Sid Berstein
1968 Motion Picture Association of America adopts film rating system
1972 1st season game at Nassau Coliseum, Flames-3, Islanders-2
1981 Hosni Mubarak became acting-president of Egypt (22005 and he's still acting)
1984 Walter Payton passes Jim Brown as NFL's career rushing leader
1985 21st Space Shuttle Mission (51-J)-Atlantis 1 lands at Edwards AFB
1985 KHQ-AM in Spokane Wash's final transmission
1985 Lynette Woodward, chosen as 1st woman on the Harlem Globetrotters
1985 PLO terrorists seize Italian cruise liner Achille Lauro
1988 Dallas Green replaces Lou Pinella as NY Yankee manager
1988 Latvian flag raised in Riga for 1st time since annexation by USSR
1988 Robin Givens files for divorce after 8-month marriage to Mike Tyson
1989 Radio talk show host Larry King weds Julie Alexander
1989 Rickey Henderson steals a record 8 bases in a play off (5 games)
1990 Israel begins handing out gas masks to its citizens
1991 Slovenia and Croatia formally declared seccession from Yugoslavia.
1992 Trade representatives of the United States, Canada and Mexico initial the North American Free Trade Agreement.
2000 Palestinians destroy Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus
2001 US and British forces struck 31 targets in Afghanistan. 40 warplanes, 50 Tomahawk cruise missiles, B-2 Stealth bombers, B-1 lancers, B-52s, F-14 Tomcats and F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets were used against air defenses, communication nodes and other large fixed target sites. Airdrops of food were also made. Liberation of Afghanistan begins.
Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"
Fiji : Deed of Cession (1874)
German Dem Rep : Constitution Day (1949)
Libya : Evacuation Day
Massachusetts : Grandparents Day (Sunday)
Missouri : Missouri Day (Monday)
World : Child Health Day, Universal Children's Day (1928) (Monday)
National Spinning and Weaving Week (Day 5)
Get Organized Week (Day 5...6..3 now where did I put the calendar?)
National Dollhouse and Minatures Month
Religious Observances
RC : Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary
Christian : Commemoration of St Osith, Saxon virgin/martyr
Luth : Commemoration of Henry Mhlenberg, missionary to America
Religious History
1810 Birth of Henry Alford, Anglican scholar. He was a member of the 1881 ERV Bible translation committee, but is better remembered today for writing the hymn "Come, Ye Thankful People, Come."
1832 Birth of Charles Converse, American lawyer and sacred composer. Converse penned the hymn tune CONVERSE, to which we sing today "What a Friend We Have in Jesus."
1930 Missionary linguist Frank C. Laubach wrote in a letter: 'Beside Jesus, the whole lot of us are so contemptible.... But God is like Jesus, and like Jesus, He will not give up until we, too, are like Jesus.'
1943 While WWII was raging, the American Council of Volunteer Agencies for Foreign Service was formed. It was as an interfaith venture to bring Protestant, Catholic and Jewish agencies involved in international relief together under one roof.
1955 The religious drama 'Crossroads' first aired over ABC television. An anthology which dramatized true experiences of clergymen of all denominations, the program ran for two years.
Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.
ALIEN BIBLE TRANSLATED!
CARPE DIEM: Their bible instructs alien acolytes on the basics of worship, including the use of something called "the remote."
By HOLLY ELISE
Religion Correspondent
Boston, Mass.
WEEKLY World News sources have confirmed that a professor at Webster University -- the birthplace of the world-famous English dictionary -- is in possession of a book that was printed on another world. What's more, the thick volume isn't a cookbook.
"It's an alien bible," said 41- year-old linguistics professor, Dr. Emmanuel Johnson, whose skill with foreign languages has earned him the nickname "Magic." "And wait till you hear who their god is!"
The book was discovered by construction workers who were on their lunch break at the 'Big Dig,' the city's new interstate tunnel. While the workers watched TV, the foreman was crushing soda cans against his massive forehead. When he ran out of them, he looked for something else to prove he was a hardhead as well as a hardhat. That was when he saw a large container half-buried in the earth. He dug it out, struck it hard against his brow and passed out. The vessel was unharmed but one of the workers spotted strange writing on the outside. Dr. Johnson was summoned along with paramedics.
"The first thing I noticed was that the markings were not the petroglyphs of Native Americans," Dr. Johnson said. "There were numbers and mathematical signs. One of them almost looked like the letters UPN and NBC. If I didn't know better I'd have sworn they were a TV schedule."
The professor looked around the site before he left. "I found other remnants of an alien presence," he said, "including luggage and what looked like a door with a little diagram. I suspect that what the 'Big Dig' crew had found was the remains of an alien outpost or motel on ancient earth."
Back in his library, Dr. Johnson opened the container.
"Being whacked against the foreman's head had loosened the top," Dr. Johnson said. "It popped right off. I began to wonder if, in fact, that was how the aliens opened containers on their world. If so, they must have suffered brain damage over time."
Inside, Dr. Johnson found a small, thick book. The cover illustration showed a constellation that bore the unmistakable likeness of Oprah Winfrey. Stunned, he opened the book, which consisted of multicolored, cloth-like materials. The writing glowed when the professor looked at it.
"It was an illuminated manuscript," Dr. Johnson explained. "I was immediately able to translate the title, which is called Their Eyes Are Watching Me. The book was comprised of two sections: A Sacred Alien Testament: Written and a Sacred Alien Testament: Oral."
"The Written Testament is the shorter of the two. Apparently, the aliens didn't like to read much," said Dr. Johnson. "The text explains that Oprahs exist on many worlds. There are probably colonies of them throughout the universe, possibly a Planet of the Oprahs. They all spring from the Oprah who wrote the alien bible. It is likely that Earth's own Ms. Winfrey is descended from these beings.
"The Oral Testament actually speaks to the reader," Dr. Johnson revealed. "Naturally, it talks in the authoritative but reassuring voice of Oprah.
"It begins with a section called 'Syndication,' which encourages aliens to do good deeds on other worlds, including the Earth," Dr. Johnson continued. "We suspect that the alien visitors who owned this bible were missionaries, members of Oprah's 'The Angel Connection.' It instructs acolytes on the basics of worship, including the use of something called 'the remote.'
"Then there's a section called 'The Boutique' where you can obtain items like loungewear for worship, mugs for sacred beverages and caps to show your devotion to the 'Big O' as she is also called. This is followed by 'The Books of Oprah' which are a collection of stories and poems she likes. Most of these were written by an angel named Maya. Next there's a chapter called 'Ooooo' which is all about the do's and don'ts of sex. Finally, there's a very thin section on dealing with 'loss' -- weight loss. The foundation of the diet is the consumption of something called 'stedman graham crackers.' This chapter contains erasures which suggest that it was once much, much thicker. "We have only begun to delve into the volume, which is extremely complex."
Dr. Johnson intends to continue his studies of the alien bible and the other artifacts from the Big Dig.
"All I can say is I hope the aliens return to Earth," he told Weekly World News. "They'd be impressed at how much Oprah has influenced our own culture!"
Thought for the day :
"We may be surprised at the people we find in heaven. God has a soft spot for sinners. His standards are quite low."
Desmond Tutu
