Paracultural Calendar for Jan 15

[Mark Thibodeau]

On this day in *1559*, *Elizabeth I* is crowned Queen of England in
Westminster Abbey, London, England.

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On this day in *1777*, the people of New Connecticut (now known as Vermont)
declare their independence from England. If you know any Vermonters, feel
free to tease them about the *New Connecticut* thing.

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*Otis* patents the "steam elevator" on this day in *1861*, allowing
passengers to climb the tallest buildings without breaking a sweat, while
simultaneously sweating up a storm by filling the compartment with steamy,
humid heat. People with heart conditions were urged to use the stairs.

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On this day in *1870*, a political cartoon for the first time symbolizes
the Democratic Party with a donkey ("A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead
Lion" by *Thomas
Nast* for *Harper's Weekly*).

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On this day in *1889*, the *Coca-Cola Company*, then known as the Pemberton
Medicine Company, is incorporated in Atlanta, Georgia.

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On this day in *1892*, Canadian *James Naismith* publishes the rules of
basketball.

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On this day in *1919*, *Rosa Luxemburg* and *Karl Liebknecht*, two of the
most prominent socialists in Germany, are tortured and murdered by the
*Freikorps* at the end of the Spartacist uprising.
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On this day in *1919*, twenty-one Bostonians *drown in a molasses tsunami*
<http://edp.org/molyank.htm> when 2 million gallons of the stuff explodes
out the bottom of a huge, sixty-foot-high metal tank.

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On this day in *1943*, the world's largest office building, the *Pentagon*,
is dedicated in Arlington, Virginia.

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On this day in *1951*, *Ilse Koch*, "The Witch of Buchenwald", wife of the
commandant of the Buchenwald concentration camp and inspiration for B-movie
character *Ilsa She-Wolf of the SS*, is sentenced to life imprisonment by a
court in West Germany.

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On this day in *1970*, *Moammar Gadhafi* is proclaimed premier of Libya.

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The Watergate Burglars plead guilty to all charges in federal court on this
day in *1973*, which also happens to be the day that *President Nixon* suspends
all American offensive actions in North Vietnam. Coinkeedink? Prolly not.

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On this day in *1974*, *Dennis Rader* aka the *BTK Killer* kills his first
victims by binding, torturing and murdering *Joseph*, *Joseph II*,
*Josephine* and *Julie Otero* in their home.

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On this day in *1992*, *Bulgaria* recognizes *Macedonia*. Unfortunately, in
an awkward turn of events, Macedonia mistakes Bulgaria for *Croatia*.

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On this day in *2001*, *Wikipedia*, a free Wiki content encyclopedia, goes
online.

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On this day in *2009*, *US Airways Flight 1549* makes an emergency landing
in the Hudson River shortly after takeoff from LaGuardia Airport in New
York, New York. All passengers and crew members survive.
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