The FReeper Foxhole Remembers "Ought it not be a Merry Christmas?" - Dec. 25th, 2005

City of Alexandria / Fort Ward Museum ^

[SAMWolf]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.

.................................................................. .................... ...........................................

U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues

Where Duty, Honor and Country
are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.

Our Mission:

The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans.

In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support.

The FReeper Foxhole hopes to share with it's readers an open forum where we can learn about and discuss military history, military news and other topics of concern or interest to our readers be they Veteran's, Current Duty or anyone interested in what we have to offer.

If the Foxhole makes someone appreciate, even a little, what others have sacrificed for us, then it has accomplished one of it's missions.

We hope the Foxhole in some small way helps us to remember and honor those who came before us.

To read previous Foxhole threads or
to add the Foxhole to your sidebar,
click on the books below.

"Ought it not be a Merry Christmas? "
Holiday observances during the American Civil War

Click the flag



Lonely camp scene from an 1862 Harper's Weekly entitled "Christmas Eve".

Even with all the sorrow that hangs, and will forever hang, over so many households; even while war still rages; even while there are serious questions yet to be settled - ought it not to be, and is it not, a merry Christmas?"
Harper's Weekly, December 26, 1863

Introduction



Harper's Weekly depicts a family separated by war in its January 3,1863 edition.

For a nation torn by civil war, Christmas in the 1860s was observed with conflicting emotions. Nineteenth-century Americans embraced Christmas with all the Victorian trappings that had moved the holiday from the private and religious realm to a public celebration. Christmas cards were in vogue, carol singing was common in public venues, and greenery festooned communities north and south. Christmas trees stood in places of honor in many homes, and a mirthful poem about the jolly old elf who delivered toys to well-behaved children captivated Americans on both sides of the Mason-Dixon line.

But Christmas also made the heartache for lost loved ones more acute. As the Civil War dragged on, deprivation replaced bounteous repasts and familiar faces were missing from the family dinner table. Soldiers used to "bringing in the tree" and caroling in church were instead scavenging for firewood and singing drinking songs around the campfire. And so the holiday celebration most associated with family and home was a contradiction. It was a joyful, sad, religious, boisterous, and subdued event.

Before the war



"The Christmas Tree" by F. A. Chapman.

Many of the holiday customs we associate with Christmas today were familiar to 1840s celebrants. Christmas cards were popularized that decade and Christmas trees were a stylish addition to the parlor. By the 1850s, Americans were singing "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear," "Oh Little Town of Bethlehem," and "Away in a Manger" in public settings. In 1850 and 1860, Godey's Lady's Book featured Queen Victoria's tabletop Christmas tree, placed there by her German husband Prince Albert. Closer to home, in December, 1853, Robert E. Lee's daughter recorded in her diary that her father - then superintendent at West Point - possessed an evergreen tree decorated with dried and sugared fruit, popcorn, ribbon, spun glass ornaments, and silver foil.

Clement Clarke Moore, a religious scholar who for decades was too embarrassed to claim authorship of the 1822 poem, "A Visit From St. Nicholas," was now well-known for his tribute to Santa Claus. "Santa Claus" made his first public appearance in a Philadelphia department store in 1849, marking the advent of holiday commercialism.

For enslaved African Americans, the Christmas season often meant a mighty bustle of cooking, housekeeping, and other chores. "Reward" for these efforts was a suspension of duties for a day or two and the opportunity for singing, dancing, and possible brief reunions with separated family members. Further gestures of "goodwill" by masters who saw themselves as benevolent owners were small and the semi-annual clothing allotment.

By 1860, many worried about civil unrest, fearful this Christmas would be the last before the outbreak of war. An Arkansas diarist writes:

"Christmas has come around in the circle of time, but is not a day of rejoicing. Some of the usual ceremonies are going on, but there is gloom on the thoughts and countenances of all the better portion of our people."

[w_over_w]

That's a "morning glory" view. Who gets to rake all those leaves when they fall? ;^)

[Soaring Feather]

A good gust of wind with deliver them to the next door neighbor. ;)

[w_over_w]

It's a CA-3 Wirraway . . . I cheated.

Also, isn't the CA-18 Mustang also called a P-51D?

[w_over_w]

Actually, I got 2 of 4. That's not a P-40 Warhawk it's a British Spitfire. No?

[The Mayor]

January 7, 2006

Willing To Share

Read:
1 Timothy 6:6-10,18

Be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share. —1 Timothy 6:18

Bible In One Year: Genesis 18-19; Matthew 6:1-18

Followers of Jesus are to be "rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share" (1 Timothy 6:18). This was demonstrated in the aftermath of the tsunami disaster in Southeast Asia. Christians quickly poured in money, materials, and manpower to bring relief to the suffering. That help has continued.

Believers show this generosity in their local communities as well. When a family lost their home and all their belongings in a fire, a flood of assistance—money, food, clothing, a temporary place to live—came from fellow believers all over the area to get them through the crisis.

When a husband walked out on his wife and three children after depleting the family's savings account and running up huge bills, the people of her church stepped in with the spiritual, emotional, and financial support she needed. And some of the women of the church faithfully encircled her with prayer and encouragement.

These believers are following the plan of God for the Christian life. There are needs all around you that you can have a vital part in meeting.

Are you "rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share"? —Dave Egner

Love is giving for the world's needs,
Love is sharing as the Spirit leads,
Love is caring when the world cries,
Love is compassion with Christlike eyes. —Brandt

If you really care, you'll want to share.

FOR FURTHER STUDY
The Compassion Of Jesus

[alfa6]

Here is a little better pic of the P-40...er I mean Spitfire.

And yes that was a Wirraway, which was an Aussie built scout-bomber based on the T-6 Texan as was the Boomerang as well. Another pic of a Wirraway

Well I have to get to work, I am building a dryer pedestal for the Mrs and I have to get the sanding done so I can start painting.

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

[w_over_w]

Thank you . . . a favorite verse on the subject of giving.

Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

~II Cors. 9:7

[Professional Engineer]

Well folks, we got finished Spiderboy's Pinewood Derby. He came away with two 1st place ribbons for his SR-71GA: Overall Favorite and Fastest Looking. The prizes were setermined by ballots completed by the boys themselves.

I his age group, Spiderboy's car was only 5 or 6 1/100ths of a second slower on the track, than the winnesr.

[alfa6]

Give the "Spiderboy" an attaboy for me and I haven't forgotten the SR-71pics for him either

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

[Soaring Feather]

Awesome!!

[Professional Engineer]

1942 Paul Revere Boise ID, keyboardist (Paul Revere & Raiders)

Meet Paul

[Professional Engineer]

1913 William M Burton patents a process to "crack" petroleum

the real questions is: Did he inhale?

[Iris7]

Howdy, Valin.

"1558: Calais, last English possession in France, retaken by French under Francois, Duke of Guise."

Some less than appreciative talk about the French here and there. I point out in my Freeper home page that France has produced great soldiers and patriots, although also many arrogant, power mad sons of Hell like the Cardinal Richelieu. The French, Montaigne (Essays) points out, started eating with forks and spoons about 1600. They have have decayed since.

From Wikipedia, in this case accurate:

"Francois, 2nd Duke of Guise (February 17, 1519, Château Bar-le-Duc – February 24, 1563, Château Corney), called Balafré "the scarred", was a French soldier and politician.

Guise was the son of Claude, Duke of Guise and his wife Antoinette of Bourbon. His sister Mary of Guise was wife of James V of Scotland and mother of Mary I of Scotland.

In 1545, he gained his nickname through a wound sustained at the siege of Boulogne. In 1551, he was created Grand Chamberlain of France. He won international renown in 1552 when he successfully defended the city of Metz from the forces of Emperor Charles V, and defeated the imperial troops again at the Battle of Renty in 1554. The siege of Metz is detailed well in Ambroise Paré's "Journey in Diverse Places" (written around 1580). He was created Grand Veneur of France in 1556, but the Truce of Vaucelles temporarily curtailed his military activity.

He led an army into Italy in 1557 to aid Pope Paul IV (and probably to further his family's pretensions to the Angevin inheritance), but was recalled to France and made Lieutenant-General of France after the defeat of the Constable de Montmorency at the Battle of St. Quentin. Taking the field, he captured Calais from the English in January 1558, Thionville and Arlon that summer, and was preparing to advance into Luxembourg when the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis was signed.

The accession of Francis II in 1559 brought about a great rise in his fortunes. He replaced Montmorency as Grand Master of France, and both he and his brother Charles of Guise became immensely influential. The Conspiracy of Amboise against them in 1560 only increased his power, but the death of King Francis at the end of the year threw matters into confusion.

The attempts of Catherine de Medici (extreme boos warranted here, nastiest female creature next to Hillary) to make common cause with the Huguenots to balance the Guises set the stage for the French Wars of Religion. Guise was one of the leaders of the Catholic faction, and his massacre of Huguenots at Wassy-sur-Blaise on March 1, 1562 marked the starting point of that conflict.

He was shot by Huguenot Jean de Poltrot de Méré, at the siege of Orléans on February 18, 1563 and died of his wounds a few days later.

He married in Saint-Germain-en-Laye on April 29, 1548 Anna d'Este, the daughter of Ercole d'Este II, Duke of Ferrara, with whom he had seven children."

No wimp. No "surrender monkey" in that guy. Plenty of such monkeys in the USA right this minute.

"Surrender monkeys". Does that mean we are a country of wimps, nancy boys, degenerates, dilettante Leftists? Moral relativists? I tell the truth, NO. On the contrary.

[Iris7]

I have done a little racing in my day, short track motorcycles, have no use for those who cheat on the rules but do always find interesting what is possible within them.

One of my subordinates is in scouts and is an avid Pinewood Derby racer. We have discussed the rules and reasonable opportunities within them. His sons dominate the local tournaments.

Careful axle/wheel fit, stick with mixed lubrication, the wheels should coast down nicely. Finish wheel pins about 30 microinch and bearing clearance to lowest ETs. Low viscosity lube and turn the inside the wheels cutting bearing area if you are ambitious. Make tooling cutters from sewing machine needles. Wheel concentricity .001" at least.

A tiny bitty wheel bearing (cheat) of your choice of polymer (black Delrin, say) can glue in place unnoticeably. Make two bearing running surfaces about 0.010" wide in any case. Remember that the race is short and that the vehicle need not be fast for many runs.

Alignment is critical, wheels must be as square as possible, use about a half degree of front toe in to start. Make an exact development track. Real timing with an oscilliscope and photodiodes would be nice as would high speed video imaging. Machined jigs are mandatory. Axles, as I recall, are prohibited, but a carefully made jig can allow setting axle pins accurately. A bit of epoxy can make up for inaccurate hole bore locations but use a jig when making bores anyway.

Ah, the joys of bench racing! So cheap, so economical of time and energy!

Only joking! (Sort of!)

[alfa6]

Sunday Morning Salute for the Frepper Foxhole

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

[The Mayor]

January 8, 2006

Our Eternal God

Read:
1 Timothy 6:13-16

[Jesus said,] "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish." —John 10:28

Bible In One Year: Genesis 20-22; Matthew 6:19-34

Late one afternoon I stood at the stern of a ferry boat churning its way from New York City across the Hudson River to New Jersey. As the towering structures of Manhattan receded from sight, my mind suddenly recalled these words from a poem: "These all shall perish stone on stone, but not Thy kingdom nor Thy throne."

A few years later the devastating terrorist attack on the World Trade Center left an ugly gap in that soaring skyline. Everything in the world around us is subject to decline. Beautiful flowers wither and die. Even California's towering sequoias, hardy survivors for long centuries, are gradually being eaten away by the gnawing tooth of time.

As for our bodies, we grow older daily and lose the vitality of our younger years. God alone possesses immortality in Himself, which means that He abides forever (1 Timothy 6:16). The simple truth must be faced that nothing is permanent—only God is everlasting.

Yet by faith in Jesus Christ, we can receive life that will never end. He promised us, "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. . . . and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand" (John 10:28-29). —Vernon Grounds

Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
Almighty, victorious—Thy great name we praise. —Smith

To give your life to Christ now is to keep it forever.

FOR FURTHER STUDY
What Is A Personal Relationship With God?

[Soaring Feather]

Good Sunday morning, FOXHOLE!!

[Professional Engineer]

Good morning ladies and gents. Flag-o-Gram.

[Valin]

On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on January 08:
1081 Henry V Roman German king/emperor (1098/1111-25)
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07232a.htm
1583 Simon Episcopius Dutch bishop/theologist
1587 Johannes Fabricius Denmark, astronomer (discovered sunspots)
1658 Nicolas Coustou French sculptor (Descente de Croix)
1786 Nicholas Biddle made 2nd bank of US 1st effective central bank
1791 Jacob Collamer (Senator-VT)
1814 Thomas Green Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1864
1815 George Webb Morell Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1883
1815 Lawrence Pike Graham Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1905
1817 John Selden Roane Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1867
1821 James Longstreet Confederate General (1st Corps, ANV)
http://www.civilwarhome.com/longbio.htm
1830 Governer Kemble Warren Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1882
1830 Hans von Bülow Dresden, pianist/virtuoso conductor/musical writer
1836 Fannie M Jackson pioneer & educator, 1st US Black woman college grad
1860 Nancy Jones US black missionary in Africa
1862 Frank Nelson Doubleday publisher/founder (Doubleday & Co)
1868 Sir Frank Dyson proved Einstein right about light bent by gravity
1870 Miguel Primo de Rivera Orbaneja dictator of Spain (1923-30)
1891 Bronislava Nijinska ballet choreographer
1891 Walther Bothe Germany, subatomic particle physicist (Nobel 1954)
1902 Georgy M Malenkov Stalin's successor as head of CPSU, PM (1953-55)
1905 Carl Gustav Hempel German Logical Positivist philosopher
1912 José Ferrer Santurce PR, actor/director (Cyrano de Bergerac, Blood Tide, Dune, Big Bus)
1920 Hendrikus J Wittebold civil servant/resistance fighter
1923 Joseph Wiezenbaum artificial intelligence pioneer
1923 Larry Storch New York City NY, comedian (F Troop, Larry Storch Show)
1926 Soupy Sales [Milton Hines], North Carolina, comedian (Soupy Sales Show)
1928 Sander Vanocur Cleveland OH, news anchor (NBC Weekend News)
1931 Bill Graham Germany, rock promoter (Fillmore)
1933 Charles Osgood New York City NY, news anchor (CBS Weekend News)
1934 Jacques Anquetil France, Tour de France bicycle racer (5-time winner)

1935 Elvis Aaron Presley Tupelo MS, rocker/THE KING (Blue Suede Shoes, Hounddog)

1935 Jesse Garon Presley stillborn twin brother of Elvis
1937 Bob Eubanks Flint MI, TV host (Newlywed Game)
1939 Yvette Mimieux Hollywood CA, actress (Time Machine, Where the Boys Are)
1940 Anthony Gaurdine (Little Anthony & Imperials-Goin' Out of My Head)
1940 Cristy Lane US, country/gospel singer
1941 Graham Chapman England, comedian (Monty Python's Flying Circus) (And now for something completly different)
1942 Stephen Hawking English physicist (Black Holes & Baby Universes)
1942 Vyacheslav Dmitriyevich Zudov USSR, cosmonaut (Soyuz 23)
1944 Terry Brooks US, sci-fi author (Sword of Shannara)
1946 Robbie Kreiger Los Angeles CA, guitarist (Doors-Come on Baby Light My Fire)
1947 David Bowie [Jones], London, singer/actor (Major Tom, Ziggy Stardust)
1964 Virgil Hill Missouri, middleweight boxer (Olympics-silver-1984)
1968 Ami Dolenz Los Angeles CA, actress (General Hospital, Can't Buy Me Love)
1971 Brenda Lee Armstrong Albert Lea MN, Miss Minnesota-America (1990)

---

Deaths which occurred on January 08:
0482 Severinus German monastery founder/saint, dies
0624 Abu Sufjan ibn Harb Kurashite chief, dies in battle
1198 Coelestinus III [Giacinto Bobo], pope (1191-98), dies
1324 Marco Polo Venetian explorer/Governor of Nanking, dies
http://www.silk-road.com/artl/marcopolo.shtml
1336 Giotto di Bondone Italian Renaissance painter, dies at about 71
1455 Laurentius Justitianus [Lorenzo Giustiniani], saint, dies at 73
1598 Johan Georg elector of Brandenburg (1571-91), dies at 72

1642 Galileo Galilei Italian physicist/astronomer, dies at 78 in Arceti Italy

1775 John Baskerville English printer/type designer, dies at 68
1815 Edward Pakenham English General (Battle of New Orleans), dies in battle
1880 [Joshua] Norton I Emperor of US/Protector of México, dies at 60
http://www.knauer.org/mike/discordia/norton.php
1922 Colonel Charles R Young dies at 58, in Lagos Nigeria
1941 Lord Robert Baden-Powell founder of the Boy Scout movement, dies at 83
1950 Joseph Issac Shneerson Jewish Lubavitch Chabal leader, dies
1950 Joseph A Schumpeter Austrian/US economist/Minister of Finance, dies at 66
1952 Antonia Maury discoverer (supergiant, giant & dwarf stars), dies
1975 Anthony Warde actor (Big Punch, Buck Rogers), dies at 66
1975 Gertrude Olmsted actress (Cobra, Torrent), dies at 70
1976 Chou En-lai China's PM (1949-76), dies of cancer in Beijing at 78
1978 Walter Keirnan TV panelist (I've Got a Secret), dies at 75
1983 Gale Page actress (4 Daughters, Knute Rockney), dies of cancer at 72
1988 Frank Pace Jr US Secretary of Army (1950-53), dies at 76
1990 Terry Thomas English comic (Heroes), dies of Parkinson's disease at 78
1992 Abderrahim Bouabid Morroco prime secretary (1972), dies
1992 Johnny [Jan] Meijer Dutch king of accordions (Body & Soul), dies
1992 Menachim Begin Israeli PM, dies at 78 of a heart attack
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/begin.html
1993 Asif Nawaz Pakistani General , dies
1993 Hakija Turajlic Bosnian vice-premier, murdered
1994 Harvey Haddix pitcher (12 perfect inning game), dies at 68
1994 Pat Buttram actor (Haney-Green Acres), dies of kidney failure at 78
1996 Francois Mitterrand President of France (1981-95), dies of cancer at 79
1998 Walter Diemer inventor (bubble gum 1928), dies of heart failure at 93
http://upwardbound.wcc.hawaii.edu/2002/Ekama.htm
2002 Dave Thomas (69), founder of Wendy’s hamburger chain, died

---

Take A Moment To Remember
GWOT Casualties

Iraq
08-Jan-2004 9 | US: 9 | UK: 0 | Other: 0
US Chief Warrant Officer Ian D. Manuel Fallujah (near) - Anbar Hostile - helicopter crash
US Chief Warrant Officer Philip A. Johnson Jr. Fallujah (near) - Anbar Hostile - helicopter crash
US Staff Sergeant Craig Davis Fallujah (near) - Anbar Hostile - helicopter crash
US Specialist Christopher A. Golby Fallujah (near) - Anbar Hostile - helicopter crash
US Specialist Nathaniel H. Johnson Fallujah (near) - Anbar Hostile - helicopter crash
US Sergeant 1st Class Gregory B. Hicks Fallujah (near) - Anbar Hostile - helicopter crash
US Specialist Michael A. Diraimondo Fallujah (near) - Anbar Hostile - helicopter crash
US Sergeant Jeffrey C. Walker Fallujah (near) - Anbar Hostile - helicopter crash
US Chief Warrant Officer Aaron A. Weaver Fallujah (near) - Anbar Hostile - helicopter crash


Afghanistan
A GOOD DAY


http://icasualties.org/oif/
Data research by Pat Kneisler
Designed and maintained by Michael White
//////////
Go here and I'll stop nagging.
http://soldiersangels.org/heroes/index.php

---

On this day...
0624 Moslem army occupies Kurashitische Caravan
0794 Church at Lindisfarne, England destroyed by Vikings
0871 Battle at Ashdown Ethelred of Wessex defeat Danish invasion army
http://www.berkshirehistory.com/legends/alfred01.html
1198 Lotario di Segni elected Pope Innocentius III
1598 Jews are expelled from Genoa Italy
1656 Oldest surviving commercial newspaper begins (Haarlem, Netherlands)
1675 1st American commercial corporation chartered (New York Fishing Co)
1745 England, Austria, Netherlands & Saxon sign anti-Prussian Quadruple Alliance
1746 Bonnie Prince Charlie's troops occupy Stirling
1760 Comet C/1760 A1 (Great comet) approaches within 0.0682 astronomical units (AUs) of Earth
1790 George Washington delivers 1st "State of the Union" address
1798 11th Amendment ratified, judicial powers construed
1800 Wild Boy of Aveyron discovered in southern France
http://mysite.verizon.net/donrae19/victor.html
1806 Cape colony becomes English colony
1806 Lewis & Clark find skeleton of 105' blue whale in Oregon
1811 Louisiana slave revolt by Charles Deslondes at German Coast

1815 Battle of New Orleans-War of 1812 ended 12/24/1814 but nobody knew

1833 Boston Academy of Music, 1st US music school, established
1838 1st telegraph message sent using dots & dashes, New Jersey
1853 1st US bronze equestrian statue (of Andrew Jackson) unveiled, Washington
1856 Dr John A Veatch discovers borax, Tuscan Springs CA
1867 Legislation gives suffrage to DC blacks, despite President Johnson's veto
1878 Secret meeting of King Leopold II's agent & Henry Morton Stanley
1884 Chrome tanning process for leather patented by Augustus Schultz
1889 Dr Herman Hollerith receives 1st US patent for a tabulating machine (1st Computer)
1894 Columbus World's fair in Chicago destroyed by fire
1897 Michael Eagan wins 1st US national amateur handball championship
1902 1st National Bowling Championship held (Chicago IL)
1904 Pope Pius X banned low cut dresses in the presence of churchmen
1917 Austria-Hungarian troops conquer Forlani Italy
1918 Mississippi becomes 1st state to ratify 18th amendment (prohibition)
1918 President Wilson outlines his 14 points for peace after WWI
http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/1918/14points.html
1925 1st all-female US state supreme court appointed, Texas
1926 Abdul-Aziz ibn Sa'ud becomes king of Hejaz; renames it Saudi Arabia
1931 Philadelphia Quakers set then NHL record of 15 straight loses
1935 Spectrophotometer patented, AC Hardy
1937 -50ºF, San Jacinto NV (state record)
1940 Britain's 1st WWII rationing (bacon, butter & sugar)
1941 British Air Marshal Richard Peirse resigns
1945 "Youth for Christ" organizes
http://www.yfci.org/yfci/
1947 Toronto Maple Leaf rookie Howie Meeker scores 5 goals in a game
1947 General George Marshall becomes Secretary of State
1948 Queen Wilhelmina signs death sentence against Ans van Dijk for treason
1951 Thought extinct since 1615, a Cahow (Bermuda Petrel) is rediscovered in Bermuda
1952 Jordan adopts constitution
1953 Indians bar night games with Browns (who refuse to share TV receipts)
1954 Elvis Presley pays $4 to a Memphis studio & records his 1st two songs, "Casual Love" & "I'll Never Stand in Your Way"
1955 Georgia Tech ends Kentucky's 130-game home basketball win streak
1956 Elvis Presley's "Don't Be Cruel/Hound Dog" single goes to #1 & stays #1 for a record 11 weeks (for a single)
1959 Charles de Gaulle inaugurated as President of France's 5th Republic
1962 Golfer Jack Nicklaus, 21, 1st pro appearance, he came in 50th
1964 President Lyndon B Johnson declares "War on Poverty"
1965 Senator Everett Dirksen introduces a bill to make marigold the national flower (didn't pass)
1965 Star of India returned to American Museum of Natural History
1966 Beatles' "Rubber Soul" album goes #1 & stays #1 for 6 weeks
1968 Jacques Cousteau's 1st undersea special on US network TV
1971 Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota established
1971 29 pilot whales beach themselves & die at San Clemente Island CA
1973 Secret peace talks between US & North Vietnam resumed near Paris
1974 Gold hits record $126.50 an ounce in London
1974 Silver hits record $3.40 an ounce in New York
1974 Loch Ness Monster photographed (or did it?)
1975 Judge Sirica orders release of Watergate's John W Dean III, Herbert W Kalmbach & Jeb Stuart Magruder from prison
1978 Israel's Cabinet votes to `strengthen' settlements in occupied Sinai
1979 512 die as oil tanker Bantry Bay blows up
1979 Vietnamese troops overtook Khmer Rouge & occupy Phnom Penh
1982 Justice Department withdraws antitrust suit against IBM, pending since 1969
1982 Johnny Cash Parkway opens in Hendersonville Tennessee
1985 Japan launches Sakigake space probe to Halley's Comet
1986 President Reagan freezes Libyan assets in the US
1986 Willie McCovey is 16th elected to Hall of Fame in his 1st year
1987 Dow Jones closes above 2,000 for 1st time (2,002.25)
1988 Hewlett-Packard introduces the HP-28S Advanced Scientific Calculator
1989 Soviet Union promises to eliminate stockpiles of chemical weapons
1991 Gaylord Perry, Ferguson Jenkins & Rod Carew elected to Hall of Fame
1991 Rod Carew is 22nd player elected to Hall of Fame on 1st try
1992 US President George Bush gets ill & vomits on Japanese prime minister's lap during Japanese tour
1993 Chicago Bull Michael Jordan scores his 20,000th career point
1993 Elvis Presley Commemorative Postage Stamp goes on sale
1996 Blizzard buries eastern US causing at least 50 deaths
1996 For 1st time in 25 years no one is elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
1998 Unabomber suspect Theodore Kaczynski asks to act as his own lawyer
1998 World Trade Center bomber Ramzi Ahmed Yousef sentenced to life
http://www.rewardsforjustice.net/english/wanted_captured/index.cfm?page=Yousef
2001 Former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined a quarter of a million dollars for extorting payoffs from businessmen applying for riverboat casino licenses
2001 The Taliban massacre some 150-300 unarmed Hazaras, a Shiite Muslim minority group, in Yakalang
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/afghanistan/afghan101-03.htm#P126_15001
http://www.hazara.net/
2002 Bush administration sends a secret report to Congress, the "Nuclear Posture Review," that said the Pentagon needs to be prepared to use nuclear weapons against 7 nations: China, Russia, Iraq, North Korea, Syria, Iran, and Libya.
(The usual suspects come down with a darn near terminal case of the vapors)
2004 Queen Elizabeth II christened the world's largest ocean liner, the Queen Mary 2
2005 Former Democratic presidential candidate/Viet-Nam war HEro John "Kill Em All" Kerry met with Syria's president and said he was hopeful that strained U.S.-Syrian relations could be improved

---

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Louisana : Battle of New Orleans/Old Hickory Day/ Jackson Day (1815)
US : Hold Onto Your Head Day
US : Rock 'n' Roll Day
Switzerland : Meitlisunntig Festival-Woman in Villmergen War (1712)
US : Man Watcher's Week Begins
National Bubble Bath Day
National Barbecue Month.

---

Religious Observances
Christian : Commemoration of St Gudula, patron of Brussels
Orthodox : St Dominique's Day
Roman Catholic : Feast of St Severinus
Jewish : Asarah B'Tevet (Siege of Jerusalem); Tevet 10, 5758

---

Religious History
1800 In London, the first soup kitchens were opened for the relief of the poor.
1954 The State Convention of Baptists in Ohio was formed, representing 39 Southern Baptist churches in that state.
1956 In Ecuador, Plymouth Brethren missionaries Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully and Pete Fleming were killed by the Auca Indians, while attempting to evangelize their tribe. Elliot's widow Elisabeth later published the story of their work and martyrdom in her book "Through Gates of Splendor" (1953).
1966 Stephen Cardinal Wyszynski, the primate of Poland, was barred by the Polish government from attending the Vatican celebration of the 1,000th anniversary of Christianity in Poland.
1979 American Presbyterian apologist Francis Schaeffer wrote in a letter: 'A Christian is a person who has the possibility of innumerable new starts.'

---

FAT PEOPLE GOOD FOR UNIVERSE
They counterbalance the effects of the rapidly fading gravitational field that is tearing us apart!

By CARL FRANCOISE

Science Correspondent HOUSTON, Texas -- Most medical doctors agree about the risks to our health posed by obesity. They say the pounds must go if we want to survive. However, a leading physicist now says that obesity may be a good thing.
"Maintaining the GNB -- gross national blubber -- is vital to the survival of the universe!" claims Conrad Portly, a professor at Simpleton University in Houston. "The universe is expanding. That means stars and planets are moving in all sorts of crazy directions. If that doesn't stop, then in a few billion years the universe will be ripped right down the creamy center of the Milky Way. I, for one, don't want to be there when all life is sucked from the cosmos."

What does this have to do with fat people?
"I have discovered that earth is very close to the center of the universe," says Dr. Portly.
"Specifically, Houston, which was recently named 'The Fattest City in America.' The more weight there is on earth the more gravity we generate. If we produce enough new gravity it will pull those far-away worlds back toward the center. That will keep the universe from being destroyed."

That's not all. Dr. Portly claims there is another benefit to having more fat people on earth.
"They create shorter days," Dr. Portly said as he chewed thoughtfully on a Choc-o-Dile. "That means more sleep for everyone."

We asked how that is possible.

"Did you ever watch a skater turn round and round?" Dr. Portly asked when he finished licking his fingers. "She goes faster as she pulls her arms toward her. Same thing here. The more fat people there are pressing the earth's surface toward the center, the faster we will spin."
And what happens, we asked, when the universe starts to collapse from all the extra gravitational fat?"
"Then we all go on Atkins," he said. "It's all part of nature's plan for the wonderful galactic ecosystem."

---

Thought for the day :
"Be true to your teeth and they won't be false to you."
Soupy Sales

[Valin]

OH OH! I may have learned something.
The whole de Medici clan were really...something.
You really didn't want to get on their bad side, as you could have an....accident.