Paracultural Calendar for June 1

David Casseres david.casseres at gmail.com
Wed Jun 3 00:14:33 CDT 2015


"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."

As a Costa Rican-American, I've never been so disappointed by a movie as I
was by this one. There are several real and amazing stories to be told, but
this movie totally avoided all of them in favor of a handsome-rascal
confection. What a wretched waste of Ed Harris's talent.

On Mon, Jun 1, 2015 at 7:58 PM, Mark Thibodeau <jerkyleboeuf at gmail.com>
wrote:

> 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
>
> ***
>
> 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.
>
> ***
>
> 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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