PARACULTURAL CALENDAR FOR JUNE 18

[Mark Thibodeau]

<http://spyderwolf.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/moon-asteroid-impact.jpg>

On this day in *1178*, five Canterbury monks see what is possibly the *Giordano
Bruno* crater being formed when they spot a huge explosion taking place on
the surface of the Moon. Here's how they described what they saw:

“From the midpoint of the division a flaming torch sprang up, spewing out,
over a considerable distance, fire, hot coals and sparks. Meanwhile the
body of the Moon which was below writhed, as it were in anxiety, and to put
it in the words of those who reported it to me and saw it with their own
eyes, the Moon throbbed like a wounded snake. Afterwards it resumed its
proper state. This phenomenon was repeated a dozen times or more, the flame
assuming various twisting shapes at random and then returning to normal.
Then, after these transformations, the Moon from horn to horn, that is
along its whole length, took on a blackish appearance.”

I don’t know about you guys, but that would have freaked the hell OUT of me
if I'd seen that.

***

On this day in *1812*, the *US Congress* declares war on the United
Kingdom. Chaos ensues.

***

On this day in *1945*, English-speaking pro-German propaganda
broadcaster *William
Joyce* - more infamously known as *Lord Haw-Haw* - is charged with treason.
When you go back and listen to his broadcasts, they're actually no more
seditious or objectionable than what you can hear on AM talk radio 24 hours
a day from the likes of *Michael "the Savage" Wiener*, panic-mongering
pants-wetting phony *Glenn Beck*, and right-wing radio's clown prince, *Rush
Limbaugh*.

***

On this day in *1873*, infamous rabble-rousing suffragette *Susan B.
Anthony* is fined 100 dollars for attempting to vote during the previous
year's Presidential elections.

***

On this day in *1928*, aviatrix *Amelia Earhart* becomes the first woman to
cross the Atlantic by air. But don't let too excited, ladies... it was as a
passenger this time.

***

On this day in *2006*, Kazakhstan launches their first ever *satellite* into
orbit. That's right, you read right... Kazakhstan, of Central Asian
dictatorship infamy, has access to space-faring technology. I mean, it's
not as bad as if it had been Turkmenistan, but still!
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