Paracultural Calendar for Feb 27

[Mark Thibodeau]

On this day in *1812*, poet *Lord Byron* gives his first address as a
member of the House of Lords, in defense of Luddite violence against
Industrialism in his home county of Nottinghamshire.

***

On this day in *1827*, *Mardi Gras* is celebrated for the first time ever
in the city of New Orleans, and aside from a few floods, a Civil War, a
deadly influenza epidemic and the birth of disco… it's been one long party
ever since!

***

On this day in *1860*, *Abraham Lincoln* makes a speech at Cooper Union in
the city of New York that is largely responsible for his election to the
Presidency.

***

On this day in *1900*, the British Labour Party is founded.

***

On this day in *1933*, Germany's parliament building in Berlin, the
Reichstag, is set on fire. Some people say the Nazis set it on fire on
purpose, to assume draconian anti-terrorism powers. But they could have
done so either way.

***

On this day in *1951*, the Twenty-second Amendment to the United States
Constitution, limiting Presidents to two terms, is ratified.

***

On this day in *1957*, Chinese leader *Mao Tse Dung* delivers his stirring
oratory: "On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among People." The
codicil decreeing that "the family should be billed for the bullet" was
later added to the printed version by persons unknown.

***

On this day in *1971*, doctors in the first Dutch abortion clinic (the
Mildredhuis in Arnhem) start to perform *aborti provocati*.

***

On this day in *1973*, the *American Indian Movement* (AIM) occupies
Wounded Knee, South Dakota.

***

On this day in *1974*, *People Magazine* publishes its first issue.
Collective brain damage via celebrity trivia overload ensues.

***
On this day in *1981*, *Paul McCartney* and *Stevie Wonder* record *Ebony &
Ivory*, the song which ended all racism, everywhere.

***

On this day in *1991*, U.S. President *George H. W. Bush* announces that
"Kuwait is liberated", thus bringing an end to the first Gulf War. Also on
this day, millionaire pornography impresario *Artie Mitchell* is shot to
death by his brother and business partner *Jim* at his luxurious home in
San Francisco. After an OJ-esque trial where extensive use was made of
computer-generated re-creations of the crime scene, Jim Mitchell was found
guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to a mere six years in the slammer.
He's back on the streets, now, running a strip club.

***

On this day in *1998*, Apple discontinues developing their Newton line of
computers. All together now… AWWWW!!!

***
On this day in *2003*, *Fred Rogers*, ordained Presbyterian minister and
beloved host of PBS's long-running *Mister Roger's Neighborhood*, dies of
stomach cancer at his home in Pittsburgh. He was seventy four years old.
Over a career that spanned children's educational television from its
humble, black and white beginnings in the early sixties, through the
elaborate musical numbers of the seventies, beyond the eighties and its
cults of personality, and all the way through the surrealism of the
nineties, Mister Rogers' brand of gentle entertainment not only survived,
but thrived. His show was, in fact, at its most popular in the mid-80's.
The fact that his show did so well without ever making any substantial
changes makes his achievement doubly amazing. By all accounts, Fred Rogers
was the proverbial "good man." His family loved him. Kids truly loved him.
People caught in the grips of grindingly bad acid trips loved him for the
Valium-like effect he had on the state of their souls. But hey... he had to
kick the bucket some time! Am I right, people?!

***

On this day in *2004*, the initial version of the *John Jay Report*, with
details about the Catholic sexual abuse scandal in the United States, is
released.
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