Paracultural Calendar for March 28 (with just a hint of Pynchon)

[Mark Thibodeau]

On this day in *845*, Paris is sacked by Viking raiders, probably under *Ragnar
Lodbrok*, who collects a huge ransom in exchange for leaving.

***

On this day in *1566*, the foundation stone of Valletta, Malta's capital
city, is laid by *Jean Parisot de Valette*, Grand Master of the Sovereign
Military Order of Malta.

***

On this day in *1802*, *Heinrich Wilhelm Matthäus Olbers* discovers *2
Pallas*, the second asteroid known to man.

***

On this day in *1854*, during the *first* *Crimean War*, France and Britain
declare war on Russia.

***

On this day in *1871*, the *Paris Commune* is formally established in Paris.

***

On this day in *1933*, the Imperial Airways biplane City of Liverpool is
believed to be the first airline lost to sabotage when a passenger sets a
fire on board.

***

On this day in *1945*, German *V-1* buzz bombs rain down on London for the
last time before the end of the war. Read *Thomas Pynchon*'s excellent,
mind-bending novel *Gravity's Rainbow*
<http://www.hyperarts.com/pynchon/index.html> for a well-rounded view of
the philosophical/metaphysical implications/consequences of the
technological slippery-slope that led directly from these fascinating and
deadly creations.

***

On this day in *1946*, the United States State Department releases the
*Acheson–Lilienthal
Report*, outlining a plan for the international control of nuclear power.

***

On this day in *1969*, the "McGill français movement" protest occurs, the
second largest protest in Montreal's history with 10,000 trade unionists,
leftist activists, college students, and some McGill students at McGill's
Roddick Gates. The majority of the protesters are arrested.

***

On this day in *1979*, the *3 Mile Island* nuclear power plant comes
*thisclose* to full-on, *Chernobyl*-style MELTDOWN in Middletown,
Pennsylvania. Kinda gives a lot more satirical heft to Homer's
safety-ignoring power-plant antics in *The Simpsons*, when you think about
it.

***

On this day in *1990*, President *George H. W. Bush* posthumously awards *Jesse
Owens* the Congressional Gold Medal.

***

On this day in *1994*, fans, friends and family of *John Lennon* and *Elvis
Presley* all feel a little weight lifting from their shoulders as reviled
"biographer" *Albert Goldman* shuffles off this mortal coil at the tender
age of 66 from a debilitating, painful "mystery disease."
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