Paracultural Calendar for March 29

[Mark Thibodeau]

On this day in *1632*, the treaty of Saint-Germain is signed returning
Quebec to French control after the English had seized it in 1629.


***


On this day in *1683*, *Yaoya Oshichi*, 15-year-old Japanese girl, burnt at
the stake for an act of arson committed due to unrequited love.


***


On this day in *1792*, *King Gustav III* of Sweden dies after being shot in
the back at a midnight masquerade ball at Stockholm's Royal Opera 13 days
earlier. He is succeeded by *Gustav IV Adolf*.


***


On this day in the year *1827*, over twenty-thousand mourners – many of
them physically overwhelmed by grief – show up to watch as cultural
titan *Ludwig
van Beethoven* is lowered into the cold, damp ground of his beloved Vienna.


***


On this day in *1848*, the *Niagara Falls* stop flowing for a full 30 hours
as the water is held back by a mighty jam of hard-packed ice.


***


On this day in *1867*, *Queen Victoria* gives Royal Assent to the British
North America Act which establishes the Dominion of Canada on July 1.


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On this day in *1871*, the Royal Albert Hall is opened by *Queen Victoria*.


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On this day in *1882*, a bunch of disgruntled Catholics get together and
form the *Knights of Columbus* as an *alternative secret society*
<http://www.meta-religion.com/Secret_societies/Groups/secret_organizations.htm>
to
the *Freemasons*, which frowned upon "Papists" for reasons that should be
obvious to anybody who knows anything about the *origins of Freemasonry*
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemasons>. Their greatest contribution to
society so far? Getting "under God" added to the Pledge of Allegiance in
1954, then convincing a nation of sheep that it was there all along.


***


On this day in *1936*, in Germany, *Adolf Hitler* receives 99% of the votes
in a referendum to ratify Germany's illegal reoccupation of the Rhineland,
receiving 44.5 million votes out of 45.5 million registered voters.


***


On this day in *1951*, *Ethel and Julius Rosenberg* are convicted of
conspiracy to commit espionage.


***


On this day in *1971*, Lieutenant *William Calley* is convicted of
premeditated murder and sentenced to life in prison for the My Lai massacre
in Vietnam.


***


On this day in *1982*, the Canada Act 1982 (U.K.) receives the Royal Assent
from *Queen Elizabeth II*, setting the stage for the Queen of Canada to
proclaim the Constitution Act, 1982.


***


On this day in *1989*, not-gay actor *Tom Cruise* experiences elation and
suffers humiliation on the very same day, when the Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences awards the Oscar for best picture to *Rainman*,
and the Golden Raspberry Award Foundation awards the Razzie for worst
picture to *Cocktail*.


***


On this day in *1991*, White House advisor *Karl Rove*'s mentor, Republican
political strategist *Lee Atwater*, dies of a brain tumor at the ripe old
age of 40. Among his many *crimes*
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/books/bckgrnd/atwater.htm>
-
and they were legion - taking part in the *destruction of popular music*
<http://www.soul-patrol.com/funk/lee_at.htm> was among the worst.
Renouncing his ways on his deathbed probably didn't prevent him from being
cast into the shitty-most bowels of Hell, where he still burns to this day.


***


On this day in *1999*, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above the
10,000 mark (10,006.78) for the first time, during the height of the
internet boom.


***


On this day in *2010*, two female suicide bombers hit the Moscow Metro
system at the peak of the morning rush hour, killing 40.


***


And finally, on this day in *2014*, the first same sex weddings were
performed in England and Wales. *Mazel-Tov!*
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