Paracultural Calendar for October 15

[Mark Thibodeau]

 <http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Mata_Hari_15.jpg>

On this day in *1764*, *Edward Gibbon* observes a group of friars singing
in the ruined Temple of Jupiter in Rome, which inspires him to begin work
on *The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire*, one of the
greatest achievements in the annals of historical documentation.

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On this day in *1783*, the *Montgolfier* brothers' hot air balloon marks
the first human ascent, by *Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier*, (tethered
balloon).

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On this day in *1793*, Queen *Marie-Antoinette* of France is tried and
convicted in a swift, pre-determined trial in the Palais de Justice, Paris,
and condemned to death the following day.

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On this day in *1815*, *Napoleon I* of France begins his exile on Saint
Helena in the Atlantic Ocean.

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On this day in *1860*, a child by the name of *Grace Bedell* writes *Abraham
Lincoln* telling him he'd look better with a beard. He promptly grew one,
and after just over a year, he was elected President. Just imagine! If it
wasn't for one insolent child making one inconsiderate remark to one ugly
man, the Union may never have had a new birth of freedom, and government
of, by and for the people might have perished from the earth a hundred and
forty years ago. Instead, it managed to hang on until early December,2000.
A pretty good run, all things considered!

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On this day in *1878*, the *Edison Electric Light Company* begins operation.

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On this day in *1888*, the "From Hell" letter sent by *Jack the Ripper* is
received by investigators.

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On this day in *1894*, the Dreyfus affair begins when *Alfred Dreyfus* is
arrested for spying.

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On this day in *1917*, at Vincennes outside of Paris, Dutch dancer *Mata
Hari* is executed by firing squad for spying for the German Empire.

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On this day in *1954*, *Hurricane Hazel* devastates the eastern seaboard,
killing 95 and causing massive floods as far north as Toronto. As a
Category 4 upon landfall, it is the strongest storm on record to strike as
far north as North Carolina.

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On this day in *1956*, Fortran, the first modern computer language, is
shared with the coding community for the first time.

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On this day in *1966*, the *Black Panther Party* is created by *Huey P.
Newton* and *Bobby Seale*.

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On this day in the year *1969*, millions of Americans of every age, color
and religious persuasion take part in one of the most widespread – and
least discussed – collective demonstrations of protest in America's entire
history: *Vietnam Moratorium Day*.

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On this day in *1991*, anti-affirmative action activist *Clarence
Thomas* benefits
from one of the most blatant cases of affirmative action in the history of
the practice when President *George Herbert Walker "Poppy" Bush* confirms
him as a Supreme Court Justice. This despite his inexperience, his
political extremism, his criminal brinksmanship, and his taste for
pornography... not that there's anything wrong with that last one!
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