Paracultural Calendar for Feb 14

[Mark Thibodeau]

On this day in *1349*, several hundred Jews are burned to death by mobs
while the remainder of their population is forcibly removed from the city
of Strasbourg.

***

On this day in *1400*, *Richard II* dies, most likely from starvation, in
Pontefract Castle, on the orders of *Henry Bolingbroke*. Ah, the English...
so staid, conservative and civilized!

***

On this day in *1779*, sailor *James Cook* is killed by Native Hawaiians
near Kealakekua on the Island of Hawaii.

***

On this day in *1831*, *Ras Marye* of Yejju marches into Tigray and defeats
and kills *Dejazmach Sabagadis* in the Battle of Debre Abbay... and if you
have any idea what any of that meant, kindly email me and let me know,
because I haven't got the foggiest.

***

On this day in *1924*, the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company changes
its name to *International Business Machines* Corporation (IBM). Chaos
ensues.

***

On this day in *1929*, the *Saint Valentine's Day Massacre* takes place.
Seven people, six of them gangster rivals of Al Capone's gang, are murdered
in Chicago, Illinois.

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On this day in *1949*, the *Asbestos Strike* begins in Canada. The strike
marks the beginning of the *Quiet Revolution
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quiet_Revolution>* in Quebec.

***

On this day in *1957*, the Georgia Senate unanimously approves Senator *Leon
Butts*' bill barring blacks from playing baseball with whites, otherwise
known as the *Locker Room Shock Prevention Bill*.

***

On this day in *1962*, First Lady *Jacqueline Kennedy* takes television
viewers on a tour of the White House.

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On this day in *1971*, President *Richard Nixon* has a secret audio-taping
system installed in the Oval Office. This works out very well for him in
the long term.

***

On this day in *1989*, *Union Carbide* agrees to pay $470 million to the
Indian government for damages it caused in the 1984 Bhopal disaster.

***

On this day in *1989*, Iran's *Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini* puts a
multi-million dollar bounty on *Salman Rushdie*'s head because his novel *The
Satanic Verses* - in which *Mohammed* (PBUH) plays tricks on the archangel
*Gabriel* - is blasphemous. Today, Khomeini is dead and Rushdie still walks
among us. HA-ha!

***

On this day in *2005*, *Youtube* is launched by a group of college
students, eventually becoming the largest video sharing website in the
world and a main source for viral videos.
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