1. Freedom Day (South Africa)—commemorating the first post apartheid election in South Africa in which all citizens regardless of race could vote.
2. Matanzas Mule Day—commemorating on this day in 1898 in one of the first naval actions of the Spanish-American, U.S. ships bombarded the Cuban village of Matanzas causing only one casualty, a mule; an interesting footnote to the war and the concept of collateral damage.
3. 1979 Number One Song—celebrating the number one song in 1979 on a brief one week run Heart of Glass by Blondie, a very popular pioneer band in new wave and punk rock that has sold over 50 million records, was in ducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006, and is still performing today. Here is a link to a music video of Blondie singing Heart of Glass:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGU_4-5RaxU (Debbie Harvey has a great voice).
4. National Prime Rib Day—celebrating this omnivore’s favorite cut of meat and if you go to Steven’s Steak and Seafood House in Commerce, California you can enjoy its famous Big Jim Special Prime Rib, weighing in at 32 ounces for only $33.95 and cooked exactly the way you like it.
5. Dots and Dashes Day—commemorating the birthday on this day in 1791 of Samuel Morse who created the Morse Code enabling communication by telegraph and radio.
On this day in
a. 711 Moorish troops led by Tarig ibn Ziyad landed at Gibraltar to begin the conquest and Islamization of Iberian Peninsula; fortunately for Christianity in Europe the spread of Islam out of the Iberian Peninsula was crushed on October 10, 732 the Franks led by Charles Martel near Tours, France (also famous for housing the Stanford en France program).
b. 1667 a blind and impoverished John Milton sold the copyright to Paradise Lost for £10, dooming future generations of English majors to the agony of having to read it.
c. 1861 Abraham Lincoln suspended the rights of criminal defendants to obtain relief by filing a writ of habeas corpus.
d. 1974 10,000 people marched in Washington, D.C. calling for the impeachment of Richard Nixon (he resigned on August 9, 1974).
e. 1981 Xerox PARC introduced the computer mouse.
Reflections on the writ of habeas corpus from two perspectives: “The Constitution doesn’t say every individual in the United States or every citizen is hereby granted or assured the right of habeas,” Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Jan. 18, 2007 “Freedom of the person under the protection of the habeas corpus I deem [one of the] essential principles of our government.” –Thomas Jefferson: 1st Inaugural Address, 1801. I vote for Jefferson’s view.
Please enjoy the 140 character poems on events of interest on my twitter account below (if you like them, retweet and join 155 growing followers and please follow me) and follow my blogs. Always good, incisive and entertaining poems on my blogs—click on the links below. Go to www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com for Ridley’s Believe It Or Not—This Day In History, poems to inspire, touch, emote, elate and enjoy and poems on breaking news items of importance. Go to Rhymes On The Newsworthy Times for comments on important and breaking news events that should be of interest. www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com Ridley's Believe It Or Not Rhymes On The Newsworthy Times © April 27 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet
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