Paracultural Calendar for June 19

[Mark Thibodeau]

 <http://www.loeser.us/flags/images/protest/juneteenth.gif>

Happy *JUNETEENTH* <http://www.juneteenth.com/history.htm>, everybody! On
this day in 1862, US Congress prohibits slavery in United States,
nullifying Dred Scott v. Sandford. News of the Emancipation Proclamation
only reached slaves in Galveston, Texas, three years later to the day, on
this day in 1865. The anniversary of this day is still officially
celebrated in Texas and 13 other states as Juneteenth!

*"No man can put a chain around the ankle of his fellow man without at last
finding the other end fastened about his own neck."* - *Frederick Douglass*

***

On this day in the year *240 BC*, some old Greek dude by the name of
*Eratosthenes* correctly estimates the circumference of the Earth to within
a few dozen miles. Pretty impressive!

***


On this day in *1934*, the Communications Act establishes the Federal
Communications Commission, still widely reviled as the *FCC*. Above you
will find a little ditty from Monty Python’s *Eric Idle* that expresses
many people’s feelings towards that particular institution…

***

On this day in *1953*, husband and wife communist spy team *Julius* and *Ethel
Rosenberg* are both executed at Sing Sing prison, in New York, for giving
the Soviets technical information about how to make a nuclear bomb that
accelerated their efforts in that regard by roughly one full year,
according to one Congressional study.

***

On this day in *1954*, the *Taz* the Tasmanian Devil makes his debut in the
Warner Bros. cartoon: *Devil May Hare!* Today, millions of
steroid-shooting, raisin-ball’d goons have adopted the whirling freak as an
avatar of sorts, stamping his likeness on everything from muscle-shirts to
vehicle mud-flaps. Anyone whose favorite Warner Bros. cartoon character is
"Taz" is a person that you should try to avoid.

***

The first ever *Garfield* comic strip is published on this day in *1971*.
It still holds the Guinness World Record for the world's most widely
syndicated comic strip.

***

On this day in *1982*, the body of God's Banker, *Roberto Calvi* is found
hanging beneath Blackfriars Bridge in London. The story of his downfall
involves the *Mafia*, the *Vatican*, the *CIA* and the *Freemasons*. Folks,
things simply do NOT get any more conspiratorial than *this story
<http://www.deepblacklies.co.uk/operation_gladio.htm>*.

***

On this day in *1991*, the USSR ends its occupation of Hungary. Some really
top-notch pornography ensues.

***

On this day in *1981*, the heaviest known orange in the history of the
world – weighing in at an impressive five pounds – is exhibited in
Nelspruit, South Africa. Meanwhile, on that same day in India, the APPLE
communications satellite is launched into orbit. Apples and oranges! A
coincidence? Yeah, right…
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