April 19, 2016 Ridley's Believe It Or Not National Garlic Day

   Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For April 19, 2016 Unfortunately still 276 days to go in President Obama’s   pathetic lame duck term but political theater is alive and well as Reds and Blues vote in a closed primary in New York today; Cruz has been MIA in New York for the last four days after being slammed for his “New York Values” charge against Trump in the last debate and may come in last as Kasich is now in second place. Sanders continues to demand Hillary release transcripts of her speeches to Wall Street for which she has received an obscene amount of money and Hillary true to her concealing mentality continues to refuse---wonder what she is hiding. Terrible news out of Houston with massive rain, flooding and five deaths—while we in California remain mired in a severe drought. I trust your Tuesday is proving to be a great one; and as always, I hope  you enjoy today’s holidays and observances,  a music link to Johnnie Taylor, factoids of interest, a  relevant quote from USA Today while looking forward to sipping an Amaretto based cocktail after reading the link to 10 recipes, blessed with a positive attitude and  secure in  the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for any memorable events like 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.

1. Bicycle Day—created by Thomas Roberts in 1985 to commemorate Albert Hoffman’s willingly taking LSD on April 19,1943 an then with his assistant biking home from his lab while experiencing psychedelic hallucinations—must have been quite a bike ride and would not recommend pedaling on acid our crowded streets in Southern California.  

2. National Garlic Day—commemorating this poet’s favorite seasoning which has been cultivated for over 6,000 years, lowers blood pressure, wards off vampires (just kidding), and is loaded with vitamins, proteins, and minerals but comes with the dreaded garlic breath as its only drawback. Today would be a great day to visit Gilroy, California also known as the “garlic capital of the world” even though China and India are the number one and two, respectively, producers of garlic.                                  

3. 1976 Number One Song—celebrating the number one song in 1976 on a run of four weeks in that position Disco Lady by Johnnie Taylor. Here is a link to Johnnie Taylor performing Disco Lady:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDpC5YUhE5Y  

4. National Amaretto Day—celebrating that almond flavored Italian liqueur that makes a great cocktail; consistent with my goal to always provide useful information in Ridley's Believe It Or Not-This Day In History here is a link to ten amaretto based cocktails that will make you the perfect host: http://cocktails.lovetoknow.com/cocktail-recipes/10-best-amaretto-drink-recipes

5. Stanford Let One Slip Away—celebrating the birthday on this day in 1957 of Mukesh Abani, the richest man in India with a net worth of over 20 billion dollars and who entered Stanford to earn his MBA but dropped out to assist his father in building and running a petrochemical business. With a net worth like that Development Office at Stanford would be drooling over the possibilities of securing a large donation to add to its considerable endowment. 

On this day in:

a. 1775 the “shots heard round the world” at Concord and Lexington announced the commencement of the Revolutionary War.

b. 1919 George Irvin made the first successful free fall parachute from a plane with a parachute he had designed; only one drawback occurred—he broke his ankle on landing. The company he founded Irving Chute Company was the first parachute designer and manufacturer and went on to become the world’s largest parachute manufacturer. 

c. 1928 the 125^th and final fascicle of the Oxford English Dictionary was published.      

d. 1993 the 51 day siege of the Branch Davidian Compound near Waco, Texas  by the FBI and agents from the ATF came to a fiery end when fire broke out due to exploding tear gas canisters lobbed in an attempt to drive David Koresh and his Davidians from the compound. 76 Davidians died in the fire, including 21 children and two pregnant women. 

e. 1995 in retaliation for the attack on the Branch Davidian Compound, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols loaded a Ryder Rental Truck with 4,800 pounds of explosives, drove up to the a federal building in Oklahoma City, lit two fuses and exited the vehicle; when the explosives went off 169 people including a good number of children attending the day care center in the building were killed and almost 700 were wounded, the largest loss of life in a terror attack until 9/11. Timothy McVeigh was tried, convicted and executed while Terry Nichols who was the bomb maker and lit the fuses is now serving life imprisonment in a federal penitentiary.    

Reflections on the Oklahoma City bombing: “The Federal trials of those who masterminded the bombing are over. The national spotlight has long since shifted from Oklahoma City. But it is now, more than three years after the worst case of domestic terrorism in American history, that many survivors are entering the bleakest period of grief.” “The Blast Fallout,” USA Today August 4, 1998 

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© April 19, 2016, Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet 
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