January 19 History Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Ridley's Believe It Or Not—January 19, 2015:    Trust your Monday is proving to be a great one and your favorite team won on Sunday to go to the Super Bowl. As always, I  hope you enjoy the holidays and observances, factoids and a relevant quote from Martin Luther King, Jr.,  with a smile on your face, enjoying a bowl of popcorn listing to Me and Bobbie McGee, blessed with a positive attitude even though you know you will have to wade through tons of spam in your inbox, and secure in the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for a memorable event like Valentines’ Day soon approaching, you know that the Alaskanpoet can provide you with a unique customized poem at a great price tailored to the event and the recipient.  You need only contact me for details.

       1. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day—honoring the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. and promoting the equality and nonviolence he promoted.

        2. Birthday of Edgar Allan Poe as commemorated by the Poe Toast who for almost 80 years ending in 2010 would appear in the early morning hours at Poe’s grave site in Baltimore, drink a toast of cognac, leave the unfinished bottle and three roses then disappear into the night.                                                                          

       3. 1988 Number One Song—celebrating the number one song on this day in 1988 The Way You Make Me Feel by Michael Jackson.

       4. National Popcorn Day—celebrating a great snack eaten at home but costing a fortune at a movie theater.
        5. 27 Is Not a Lucky Number Day—celebrating on the birthday on this day in 1943 of rock singer Janis Joplin who sadly died of an overdose in 1970 joining the ranks of fellow rock stars Jimmy Hendrix, Jim Morrison, and Kurt Cobain all of whom died way too early at the age of 27. 
On this day in
      a. 1915 Georges Claude patented the neon discharge tube to the delight of advertisers and casinos throughout the world.
      b. 1920 in a victory for isolationism the United States Senate rejected the membership of the United States in the League of Nations gutting its ability to hinder the rise of Hitler, Mussolini and a militaristic Japan and World War II that followed in less than 20 years.
       c. 1953 almost 73 percent of the TV sets in the U.S. were tuned on to the I Love Lucy Show to see Lucille Ball give birth to a son Desi Arnez, Jr.
       d. 1977 in a blow against those who are predicting global warming, the first recorded snowfall in history occurred in Miami.
       e. 2012 the FBI was able to shut down the Hong Kong based file sharing site Megaupload prompting a series of hacking attacks by Anonymous against entertainment websites.
Reflections on War by Martin Luther King, Jr. “Somehow this madness must cease. We must stop now. I speak as a child of God and brother to the suffering poor of Vietnam. I speak for those whose land is being laid waste, whose homes are being destroyed, whose culture is being subverted. I speak for the poor in America who are paying the double price of smashed hopes at home and death and corruption in Vietnam. I speak as a citizen of the world, for the world as it stands aghast at the path we have taken. I speak as an American to the leaders of my own nation. The great initiative in this war is ours. The initiative to stop it must be ours.” The Trumpet of Conscience, 1967   One can only hope that in the Islamic world the equivalent Martin Luther King, Jr. is getting ready to appear on the world stage to address radical Islam in the same fashion King addressed the Vietnam War.                                                  
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© January 19, 2015 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet
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