PARACULTURAL CALENDAR FOR JULY 24

[Mark Thibodeau]

<http://www.artsjournal.com/realcleararts/Machu_Picchu.jpg>

On this day in *1534*, French explorer *Jacques Cartier* plants a cross on
the Gaspé Peninsula and takes possession of the territory in the name
of *Francis
I* of France.

***

On this day in *1847*, after 17 months tramping through the American
wilderness, *Brigham Young* and his merry band of Mormon pioneers finally
settle down in the Salt Lake Valley region of what would one day become the
state of Utah. California sure dodged a bullet!

***

On this day in *1911*, explorer *Hiram Bingham III* finds *Machu Picchu*,
the legendary Lost City of the Incas. Bingham was the well-to-do son of a
Protestant Hawaiian missionary who became a gentleman scholar, a prolific
author, a profoundly vile racist, a governor of Connecticut, a Senator at
the federal level, and, finally, the real-life inspiration for the
character of *Indiana Jones*. They don't make 'em like Bingham anymore.

***

On this day in *1915*, the passenger ship *S.S. Eastland* capsizes while
tied to a dock in the Chicago River. A total of 844 passengers and crew are
killed in the largest loss of life disaster from a single shipwreck on the
Great Lakes.

***

On this day in *1922*, the draft of the British Mandate of Palestine was
formally confirmed by the Council of the League of Nations; it came into
effect on 26 September 1923.

***

On this day in *1959*, then vice-president *Richard Nixon* and Soviet
leader *Nikita Khrushchev* engage in their infamous "kitchen debate" while
standing in the middle of a model kitchen at theAmerican National
Exhibition in Moscow. Eventually, the two men reach a compromise, deciding
to go with Krushchev's choice of enamel tile instead of the formica Nixon
wanted, but in the sky-blue color pattern favored by Tricky Dick, rather
than the deep red tones favored by Nikita.

***

On May 25, 1961, President *John F. Kennedy* said: "I believe this nation
should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of
landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth." On this day
in *1969*... mission accomplished.

***

On this day in *1967*, during an official state visit to Canada, French
President *Charles de Gaulle* declares to a crowd of over 100,000 in
Montreal: "Vive le Québec libre!" The statement, interpreted as support for
Quebec independence, delighted many Quebecers but angered the Canadian
government and many English Canadians.

***

On this day in *1998*, *Russell Eugene Weston, Jr*. bursts into the United
States Capitol and opens fire killing two police officers. He is later
ruled to be incompetent to stand trial.

***

On this day in *2001*, real estate mogul *Larry Silverstein* signs a $3.2
billion, 99 year lease on the World Trade Center. It includes an insurance
policy which specifically covers acts of terrorism, which was extremely
fortuitous, because in 7 weeks the terrorist attacks of *9/11* would take
place.

***

On this day in *2001*, *Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha*, the last Tsar of
Bulgaria when he was a child, is sworn in as Prime Minister of Bulgaria,
becoming the first monarch in history to regain political power through
democratic election to a different office.

***

On this day in *2009*, the *MV Arctic Sea*, supposedly carrying a cargo of
timber but rumored to be carrying *far more disturbing cargo
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Arctic_Sea>*, is allegedly hijacked in the
North Sea by pirates - which hardly EVER happens - so much speculation
remains as to the actual cargo and events.
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