Ridley's Believe It Or Not June 16 History International Day of the African Child

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not—June 16, 2015 Trust your Taco Tuesday is a great one and the batteries are all recharged to handle what the week has in store for you.  As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, factoids of interest, a  music video by Herb Albert, a relevant quote by Nelson Mandela, looking forward to enjoying a piece of fudge, blessed with a positive attitude and secure in the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for any memorable event like Fathers’ Day, birthdays, weddings, or anniversaries, you know that the Alaskanpoet can provide you with a unique customized poem at a great price tailored to the event and the recipient. You need only contact me for details. If you want to give another unique gift that has this omnivore seal of approval order some Kelli’s Cookies: http://www.kelliscookies.com/index.php/shop-by-product/fathers-day-specials.html
       1. International Day of the African Child—commemorating since 1991, the students that were gunned down by South African police in Soweto, South Africa on June 16, 1976 while marching peaceably to protest the quality of their education.

       2. Bloomsday (Dublin) — if a James Joyce fan, this is an observance that one would not want to miss; the event commemorates Joyce’s epic novel Ulysses which is set in Dublin on June 16, 1904.       

        3. 1968 Number One Song—celebrating the number one song in 1968 on a four week run,  This Guy’s In Love With You by Herb Albert, an American pop singer and leader of a great musical instrument band; he is the only person to have a number one hit as a vocalist and as leader of musical instrument band. With an apology for the ad to endure, here is a link to Herb Albert performing This Guy’s In Love With You:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8ByJ1C0iR4   

        4.  National Fudge Day—celebrating a great desert but after National Lobster Day yesterday seems like a letdown.

        5.  Rap Kills But Holograms Live On—celebrating the birthday on this day in 1996 of Tupac Shakur a mercurial rap artist who sold over 75 million albums before being shot down in a drive by shooting in Las Vegas. A hologram of him at the 2012 Coachella music festival appeared with his friends Dr. Dre and Snoop Dog who were performing.

On this day in:                                           

       a. 1858 Abraham Lincoln delivers his “A House Divided Cannot Stand” Speech which foretold the coming struggle of the forces of slavery and abolition that would lead to the Civil War.

       b. 1911 IBM was incorporated in Endicott, New York as the Computing-Recording-Tabulating Company; company still going strong in its 104^th year.    

     c. 1967 the Monterrey Pop Festival occurred setting the framework for subsequent music festivals like Woodstock. Jimi Hendrix, the Who, Janis Joplin, the Mamas and the Pappas and Otis Redding performed—sadly both Hendrix and Joplin were to die in the not too distant future due to drug overdoses.

       d. 1977 Oracle Corporation was incorporated by Larry Ellison, Bob Miner and Ed Oates, all of whom especially Ellison are very wealthy today.

       e. 1981 in a moment that makes this poet proud to have had a Canadian mother, Ronald Reagan awarded the Congressional Medal of Freedom to former ambassador Ken Taylor who managed to smuggle six Americans out of Tehran following the embassy seizure by the Iranians.

       f.  2010 in a mouse that roared moment, Bhutan outlawed the use of all forms of tobacco. Today tobacco remains the biggest killer of humans each and every year. Reflections on the Soweto Massacre and why apartheid was doomed to ultimately fail:   “Even as we bow at their graves we remember this: the dead live on as martyrs in our hearts and minds, a reproach to our disunity and the host of shortcomings that accompany divisions among the oppressed, a spur to our efforts to close ranks, and a reminder that the freedom of our people is yet to be won. We face the future with confidence. For the guns that serve apartheid cannot render it unconquerable. Those who live by the gun shall perish by the gun.” Nelson Mandela History proved him right; the innocents gunned down at Soweto were not killed or maimed in vain.    

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© June 16, 2015 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet
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