Paracultural Calendar for Feb 9

[Mark Thibodeau]

On this day in *474*, *Zeno* is crowned co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire.

***

On this day in *1621*, *Gregory XV* becomes Pope, the last Pope elected by
acclamation.

***

On this day in *1870*, President *Ulysses S. Grant* signs a joint
resolution of Congress establishing the U.S. Weather Bureau.

***

On this day in *1895*, *William G. Morgan* creates a game called m
*intonette*, which soon comes to be referred to as *volleyball*. The name
of whoever it is that came up with the idea that the game should be played
by hot chicks in bikinis is lost to the ages.

***

On this day in *1913*, a group of meteors is visible across much of the
eastern seaboard of North and South America, leading astronomers to
conclude the source had been a small, short-lived natural satellite of the
Earth.

***

On this day in *1926*, the government of Atlanta, Georgia forbids the
teaching of evolutionary theory in its schools. We've come a long way,
baby!

***

On this day in *1950*, Senator *Joe McCarthy* alleges the State Department
is riddled with Reds. Three years later on this day, *Allen Dulles* ascends
to the directorship of the *CIA*. Six years after that, *The
Coasters*'s *Charlie
Brown* peaks at #2 on the Billboard charts. And that, in a nutshell, was
America in the 1950's.

***

On this day in *1964*, *The Beatles* make their first appearance on *The Ed
Sullivan Show*, performing before a "record-busting" audience of 73 million
viewers.

***

On this day in *1965*, the first United States combat troops are sent to
South Vietnam.

***

On this day in *1987*, President *Reagan*'s former national security
adviser *Robert McFarlane*attempts suicide. Unlike with *Vince Foster*,
speculative theories about the reasons why remain a completely underground
phenomenon.

***

On this day in *2001*, one of the first scandals of *Preznit Dubya*’s
occupancy of the White House occurs when the American submarine USS
Greeneville strikes and sinks the Ehime-Maru, a Japanese fishing vessel
that was essentially a floating High School. Nine students and crewmembers
perished in the crash. Making matters worse, this all apparently happened
after the sub was being piloted by Bush Crime Family bankrollers
(Republican donors). Anyway, it sure was a hell of *a mess
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ehime_Maru_and_USS_Greeneville_collision>*.
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