PARACULTURAL CALENDAR FOR SEPTEMBER 10

[Mark Thibodeau]

<http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/Simon_Bolivar_Madeira_hg.jpg>

On this day in *1509*, an earthquake known as "The Lesser Judgment Day"
hits Constantinople.

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On this day in *1570*, Spanish Jesuit missionaries land in present-day
Virginia to establish the short-lived *Ajacán Mission*.

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On this day in *1608*, *John Smith* is elected council president of
Jamestown, Virginia.

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On this day in *1823*, *Simón Bolívar* is named President of Peru.

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On this day in *1897*, a sheriff's posse kills 20 unarmed immigrant miners
in Pennsylvania, in what will come to be known as *the Lattimer Massacre*.

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On this day in *1946*, while riding a train to Darjeeling, *Sister Teresa
Bojaxhiu* of the Loreto Sisters' Convent claimed to have heard the call of
God, directing her "to leave the convent and help the poor while living
among them". She would become known as *Mother Teresa*, friend to tyrants
and dictators the world over in her *hypocritical lifetime
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Mother_Teresa>*.

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On this day in *1960*, Ethiopian athlete *Abebe Bikila* wins the Olympic
marathon in Rome. His victory is of particular note because the lunatic ran
the entire race without the benefit of footwear! Understandably, his
success did not result in a lucrative sneaker endorsement deal.

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 On this day in *1961*, during the Italian Grand Prix, a crash causes the
death of German Formula One driver *Wolfgang von Trips* and 13 spectators
who are hit by his flying Ferrari.

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On this day in *1963*, 20 African-American students enter public schools in
Alabama. Chaos ensues... for a while.

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On this day in *1967*, the people of the protectorate of *Gibraltar* in
Spain vote 12,138 to 44 to retain their British identity.

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On this day in *1977*, *Hamida Djandoubi*, convicted of torture and murder,
is the last person to be executed by guillotine in France.

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On this day in *1990*, the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in Yamoussoukro,
Côte d'Ivoire, the largest church in Africa – it’s ridiculously huge,
actually – is consecrated by *Pope John Paul II*.
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On this day in *1999*, *Battlefield Earth* star and jet-plane pilot *John
Travolta* makes an emergency landing at a Boston airfield when his private
707 loses an engine. Travolta and his entourage had been en route to
Bangor, Maine at the time of the forced landing, where the prominent
$cientologist maintains a home, and where the locals have come to hate and
fear his hot-dogging aerial exploits.

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On this day in *2001*, *Charles Ingram* cheats his way into winning one
million pounds on a British version of *Who Wants to be a Millionaire*.
Also on  this day in *2001*, the mayor of Campinas, Brazil, *Antonio da
Costa Santos*, is assassinated. These news stories are pushed off the front
pages pretty quick, however, because of you-know-what.

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On this day in *2002*, Switzerland, traditionally a neutral country, joins
the United Nations.
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On this day in *2003*, *Anna Lindh*, foreign minister of Sweden, is fatally
stabbed while shopping, and dies the following day.

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On this day in *2008*, the *Large Hadron Collider* at *CERN*, described as
the biggest scientific experiment in history, is powered up in Geneva,
Switzerland. Chaos fails to ensue.
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