Paracultural Calendar for July 21

[Mark Thibodeau]

 <http://dkiel.com/GreeceTurkey/Ephesus/ArtemisTemple/artemistemple.jpg>

On this day in *356 BC*, the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the Seven
Wonders of the World, is destroyed by arson. How does one burn down marble
columns?!

***

On this day in *365*, a tsunami devastates the city of Alexandria, Egypt.
The tsunami was caused by the Crete earthquake estimated to be 8.0 on the
Richter Scale. 5,000 people perished in Alexandria, and 45,000 more died
outside the city.

***

On this day in *1865*, the first-ever true-life old-timey "wild West
showdown" takes place in Springfield, Missouri, when*Wild Bill Hickok* guns
down *Dave Tutt* in the market square. Eight years later to the day, on
this day in *1873*, the*James Younger Gang* pulls off the first-ever
true-life old-timey train robbery. *Tupac* and *Biggie* had nothing on
those gansta honkies, I tell ya whut.

***
On this day in *1880*, twenty workers are killed during the construction of
the *Hudson River Rail Tunnel*. The men had been able to dig beneath the
river thanks to an air compressor that pumped 35 lbs of pressure into the
void, thus preventing the river from collapsing down on top of them. But
they were digging through soft silt, and when they came to within fifteen
feet of the bottom, the whole thing blew out like a wad of *herniated
chewing gum* <http://www.enr.com/advertise/aboutUs/125enrHistory/990208.asp>
.

***

On this day in *1973*, Mossad agents assassinate a waiter in Norway after
mistaking him for one of the terrorists who took Israeli athletes hostage
during 1972's Munich Olympics. D'Oh!!!

***

On this day in *1984*, our soon-to-be metallic overlords take the first
tentative step in their plan to destroy the human race when a factory robot
in Jackson, Michigan crushes a worker against a safety bar… history's first
robot-related death!

***

Also on this day in *1984*, fitness guru *Jim Fixx* - the man who
single-handedly launched the jogging craze of the late seventies - dies of
a massive heart attack at the ripe old age of… 43! *BWAH-HA-HA-HA!!!*

***

On this day in *1990*, legendary sour-puss *Roger Waters* and a cast of
dozens perform the infamous prog-rock opera*The Wall* on the very site
where the Berlin wall once stood. Paid attendance is around 200,000 people,
but it is estimated that the real attendance figure was somewhere around
600,000. Every penny of the gate went to the War-Dead Fund.
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