Paracultural Calendar for January 17
Mark Thibodeau
jerkyleboeuf at gmail.com
Sun Jan 18 22:58:46 CST 2015
On this day in *1562*, France recognizes the Protestant "Huguenots" by the
Edict of Saint-Germain. No, not that *Saint-Germain*.
***
On this day in *1873*, a group of Modoc warriors defeats the United States
Army in the First Battle of the Stronghold, part of the Modoc War. Holy
crap... there was a *Modoc War?!* How come nobody told me?!
***
On this day in *1893*, a bunch of sugar plantation owners led by *Sanford
"Pineapple" Dole* hire some mercenaries to overthrow Hawaii's *Queen
Liliuokalani*, establishing a new "provincial" government with Dole as
president. This coup had the indirect approval of the American government
at the time, and 300 Marines based at Pearl Harbor took part. Later that
same year, Congress refused to bring Hawaii in as an official protectorate,
and president *Grover Cleveland *tried to restore Queen Liliuokalani to the
throne. But Dole refused to step aside, proclaiming himself ruler of the
Independent Republic of Hawaii. As long as it didn't affect the flow of
sugar, Cleveland didn't give a fuck, so it was left to his successor, *William
McKinley,* to negotiate a treaty after the base at Pearl Harbor proved to
be so valuable during the Spanish American War. So now you know about
Hawaii!
***
On this day in *1929*, *Popeye the Sailor Man*, a cartoon character created
by *Elzie Segar*, first appears in the *Thimble Theatre* comic strip.
***
On this day in *1945*, Swedish diplomat and *Jewish hero* *Raoul Wallenberg* is
taken into Soviet custody while in Hungary; he is never publicly seen again.
***
On this day in *1961*, U.S. President *Dwight D. Eisenhower* delivers a
televised farewell address to the nation three days before leaving office,
in which he warns against the accumulation of power by the *military-industrial
complex*. You can watch his speech right now. If you haven't yet, you
should. Meanwhile, over in the Congo, on this same day, former Congolese
Prime Minister *Patrice Lumumba* is murdered in circumstances suggesting
the support and complicity of the governments of Belgium and the CIA.
***
On this day in *1977*, convicted murderer *Gary Gilmore* is executed by a
firing squad in Utah, ending a ten-year moratorium on capital punishment in
the United States.
***
On this day in *1984*, the United States Supreme Court rules in the
groundbreaking *Sony versus Universal* case. Sony wins by a 5-4 squeaker,
and from that point on, you and I have been free to videotape programs off
the television without fear of being arrested for copyright infringement.
Just for the record, our current Supreme Court Chief Justice -
ultraconservative Republican appointee *William Rehnquist* - voted against
a citizen's right to videotape television programs.
***
On this day in *1989*, *Patrick Purdy* opens fire with an assault rifle at
the Cleveland Elementary School playground in Stockton, California, killing
five children and wounding 29 others and one teacher before taking his own
life.
***
On this day in *1991*, Operation Desert Storm begins early in the morning.
Iraq fires 8 Scud missiles into Israel in an unsuccessful bid to provoke
Israeli retaliation.
***
On this day in *1992*, during a visit to South Korea, Japanese Prime
Minister *Kiichi Miyazawa* apologizes for forcing Korean women into sexual
slavery during World War II.
***
On this day in *1998*, snivelling, closeted, pseudo-journalist and egg
fetishist *Matt Drudge*"breaks" the story of the *Bill Clinton-Monica
Lewinsky* affair on his website *The Drudge Report*. And by "breaks the
story", we mean he was fed the story by a very real, very active *Vast
Right Wing Conspiracy* to bring down the Clinton Presidency by any means
necessary. Watch the second chapter of the great *Adam Curtis *documentary *The
Power of Nightmares* to find out what REALLY happened.
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