Paracultural Calendar for Oct 17

[Mark Thibodeau]

 <http://pastsop.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/burj-dubai.jpg>

On this day in *539 BC*, *Cyrus the Great* marches into the city of
Babylon, releasing the Jews from almost 70 years of captivity. Cyrus allows
the Jews to return to Yehud Medinata and rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem.

***

On this day in *1604*, German astronomer *Johannes Kepler* observes a
supernova in the constellation Ophiuchus.

***

On this day in *1814*, the Great London Beer Flood occurs in London,
killing nine in a way that turns out to be far less enjoyable than those
who succumb to the devastation might have hoped or imagined it would be.

***

On this day in *1931*, "alleged" gangster *Al Capone* is convicted of
income tax evasion.

***

On this day in *1933*, world-famous physicist *Albert Einstein* flees Nazi
Germany and moves to the United States.

***

On this day in *1961*, police in France open fire on a huge crowd of
Algerian demonstrators, who were marching in the streets of Paris past
curfew to support peace talks aimed at ending Algeria's war of independence
against French colonial rule. Within minutes, there were corpses everywhere
- piled up against gates, jammed under vehicles, floating down the Seine -
as hundreds of demonstrators were cut down in a hail of flying lead. Many
hundreds more were seriously injured. Twenty years after this massacre, not
too many people were surprised when it was revealed that the man who was
Paris' chief of police at the time - *Maurice Papon* - had collaborated
with the Nazis during WWII by deporting hundreds of French Jews to death
camps across Europe.

***

On this day in *1970*, in Montreal, Quebec, Quebec Vice-Premier and
Minister of Labour *Pierre Laporte* is murdered - or was it *an accident?
<http://wearecanadians.wordpress.com/2011/06/09/the-flq-october-crisis-and-the-quiet-revolution/>*
-
by members of the *FLQ* terrorist group.

***

On this day in the year *1979*, despite the fact that she consorted with
some of the most evil fuckers the world has ever known and her so-called
hospitals didn't even carry so much as a bottle of aspirin to ease
patients' suffering,*Mother Teresa* is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. *Don't
believe the hype!* <http://www.class.uidaho.edu/ngier/490/theresa.htm>

***

On this day in *1994*, Russian journalist *Dmitry Kholodov* is assassinated
while investigating corruption in the Russian armed forces. Big shock,
there, eh? What did you expect, dude? Whatever the Rooskies have in place
of the Pulitzer? This is nothing but a case of "suicide by journalism" *in
extremis*.

***

On this day in *2002*, authorities in the greater Washington DC area
recommend that pedestrians should "walk in a zig-zag manner" to avoid a
terror sniper's bullets. I thought this was a bad idea, because if you're
moving in a zig-zag, you will eventually fall into a recognizable pattern,
after which any moderately skilled marksman - or even the average*Unreal
Tournament* geek - will be able to pick you off with relative ease. A
better option would have been to just dance! From the Mashed Potato to the
Frug, then on to the Twist, the Shimmy, the Monkey and the Swim... then
alternating between the Robot and the Moonwalk. Not only would it have been
effective, it would also have been a beautiful gesture of defiance. Stupid,
but beautiful.

***

On this day in *2003*, the pinnacle is fitted on the roof of *Taipei 101*,
a 101-floor skyscraper in Taipei, allowing it to surpass the *Petronas Twin
Towers* in Kuala Lumpur by 56 metres (184 ft) and become the world's
tallest high rise. Both structures are currently dwarfed by the world
champion *Burj Dubai* in, you guessed it, Dubai! Just check it out up top.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://waste.org/pipermail/pynchon-l/attachments/20151020/9ae3606e/attachment.html>