1. World Religion Day—established by the Baha’i in 1950 to promote interfaith understanding and unity, an idea completely absent in the fanaticism of the jihadists who demand one converts to Islam or dies.
2. Thesaurus Day—celebrating the birthday on this day in 1779 of Peter Roget the publisher of Roget’s Thesaurus—the great reference for writers with its treats of synonyms and anonyms.
3. 1987 Number One Song—celebrating the number one song on this day in 1987 At This Moment by Billy Vera and the Beaters. It was the band’s only number one song and remained on the charts for 15 weeks.
4. National Gourmet Coffee Day/ National Peking Duck Day —celebrating two holidays that are almost impossible to celebrate at the same time in one restaurant—have you ever been able to order coffee, gourmet or otherwise, in a Chinese restaurant?
5. It Takes Heart Day—celebrating on the eve of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day the birthday on this day in 1856 of Daniel Hale Williams an Afro-American surgeon who founded Provident Hospital with the first interracial nursing and intern staff and in 1893 performed the first successful open heart surgery.
On this day in
a. 1788 the first elements of a fleet of 11 ships that had left England 252 days before with over 750 convicts arrived in Botany Bay Australia to begin the colonization of Australia.
b. 1977 scientists identified a previously unknown bacterium which caused what became to be known as Legionnaires’ Disease since in was first identified at a Legionnaires’ Convention in Philadelphia in 1976; 221 attendees contracted the disease and 34 died.
c. 1983 the International Olympics Committee in a better late than never moment restored the gold medals Jim Thorpe had won in the 1912 Olympics but because he had been paid for playing semi pro football had to forfeit.
d. 1993 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was observed for the first time in all 50 states.
e. 2012 a series of coordinated protests over the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act and the IP Protection Act involving over 100,000 websites took place successfully as both measures were not enacted into law.
Reflections on World Religion Day that the leaders of ISIS, al Qaeda, Boko Haram and all other fanatics hiding behind a religious shield need to read and observe:
“The same Reality is the creator and preserver of all;
Know no distinctions between them.
The monastery and the mosque are the same;
So is the Hindu worship and the Muslim prayer.
Humans are all one!
Only they who love find Ultimate Reality.”
- Gobind Singh, 1675-1708, the 10th and last Sikh Guru
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