Paracultural Calendar for June 1

[Mark Thibodeau]

PARACULTURAL CALENDAR FOR JUNE 1
<http://uselesseaterblog.blogspot.ca/2015/06/paracultural-calendar-for-june-1.html>
<http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Fleurs-du-mal_destruction.jpg>

On this day in *1495*, friar *John Cor* records the first known batch of
Scotch whisky in – you guessed it – Scotland! Yummy!

***

On this day in *1533*, *Anne Boleyn* is crowned Queen of England. And she
lives happily ever after

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On this day in *1779*, *Benedict Arnold*, a general in the Continental Army
during the American Revolutionary War and a man whose name would go on to
become synonymous with treason, is court-martialed for malfeasance.

***

On this day in *1813*, *James Lawrence*, the mortally wounded commander of
the USS Chesapeake, gives his final order: "Don't give up the ship!" This
is an early instance of "meme" spreading, as soon, word spreads and
everybody knows what he said.

***

On this day in *1855*, American lawyer, journalist and "filibuster" *William
Walker* conquers the nation of Nicaragua with an armed band of mercenaries
and rules it for just over one year before being routed by Central American
forces led by *Costa Rica*. Walker would be executed in 1860. In 1987, cult
film director *Alex Cox* would make an insane film, *Walker*, about this
incident. You can watch the whole thing right here.


***

On this day in *1857*, French poet *Charles Baudelaire*'s *Les Fleurs du
Mal* is published.

***

On this day in *1916*, *Louis Brandeis* becomes the first Jew appointed to
the United States Supreme Court.

***

On this day in *1921*, one of the most shameful pages in the Great American
History Book is written when the *Black Wall Street Riots
<http://www.blackwallstreet.freeservers.com/> *take place. A prosperous
black community in Tulsa, Oklahoma is burned to the ground by a 5000-strong
mob of armed white folk, who were enraged that a 100-strong mob of armed
black men had convened on City Hall in order to prevent the lynching of a
shoe-shine boy accused of "impugning the dignity" of a white female
elevator operator. She later admitted making up the story. At one point,
the city called in bi-planes to air-bomb the community with dynamite,
leveling it. Officially, the body-count was 81 (21 whites, 60 blacks), but
estimates have ranged as high as 3000. Many records were destroyed during
and after the attack, and efforts are underway to examine abandoned
mine-shafts in the area, long-believed to have been used as mass graves for
hundreds of unaccounted-for blacks.

***

On this day in *1958*, *Charles de Gaulle* comes out of retirement to lead
France by decree for six months.

***

On this day in *1962*, after being kidnapped by Mossad in South America,
Nazi official *Adolf Eichmann* is hanged in Israel.

***

On this day in *1967*, the Beatles release their magnum opus, *Sgt.
Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band* by The Beatles is released.

***

On this day in *1974*, the Heimlich maneuver for rescuing choking victims
is published in the journal Emergency Medicine.

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On this day in *1979*, the first black-led government of Rhodesia (now
Zimbabwe) in 90 years takes power. And they all live happily ever after.
***

On this day in *1980*, eccentric billionaire *Ted Turner*'s Cable News
Network -- better known as *CNN* -- begins broadcasting its particular
blend of USA Today-style quasi-news-nuggets and obsessive-compulsive
over-coverage of irrelevant bullshit... And it's been all down-hill from
there.

***

On this day in *2001*, a Hamas suicide bomber kills 21 at the Dolphinarium
disco in Tel Aviv, Israel. Also on this day in *2001*, Nepal's *King
Birendra* -- the only Hindu king in the world -- has his reign cut shot by
his useless, fat-faced son, the sullen *Party Boy Prince Dippy*, who went
bonkers, unloading a couple clips of ammo into King Birendra and seven
other royal family members, including the Queen and his own brothers and
sisters, before turning the gun on himself. In a shocking twist, as he
lay brain dead in hospital, *Prince Dippy* was crowned *King of Nepal* in
accordance with the laws of the land. Sparing the nation the indignity of
having a mass murderer as the head of its royal family, Prince Dippy
graciously succumbed to his wounds later that same day, at which point
*Gyanendra*, brother of the slain King, was crowned just in time to preside
over the funerals of over a half-dozen of his family members..

***

On this day in *2009*, Air France Flight 447 crashes into the Atlantic
Ocean off the coast of Brazil on a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. All
228 passengers and crew are killed. Also on this day in *2009*, General
Motors files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It is the fourth largest United
States bankruptcy in history.



***

On this day in *2013* - that's today - *One World Trade Center* opens in
Lower Manhattan, New York City.
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