January 30 History Martyrs' Day (India)

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not—January 30, 2015 Trust your Friday is off to a great start and your squares selected in the office Super Bowl pool will prove to be winners. As always, I  hope you enjoy the holidays and observances, factoids and a relevant quote from Mahatma Gandhi,  with a smile on your face, enjoying a warm croissant, 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. Martyrs’ Day (India)—commemorating the assassination on this day in 1948 of Mahatma Gandhi, a man of nonviolence so important to India’s gaining independence from Great Britain.
       2. National Inane Answering Machine Day—commemorating the ability to end prank calls and inane messages on one’s answer machines—caller ID.
       3. 1999 Number One Song—celebrating the number one song on this day in 1999 as part of only a 2 week run Baby One More Time by Brittany Spears, who has sold over 100 million albums.
        4. National Croissant Day—good reason to head to France to the nearest patisserie.  
        5. One Heartbeat Away With A Bad Heart Day—celebrating the birthday on this day in 1941 of Dick Cheney Vice President under George W. Bush who experienced his first of five heart attacks at the age of 37 after smoking three packs of cigarettes a day and among other accomplishments memorialized in joke and satire accidentally shot one of his quail hunting partners.
 On this day in
     a. 1835 Richard Lawrence attempted the first assassination attempt on a U.S. President Andrew Jackson but failed when both pistols misfired.
      b. 1969 the Beatles performed their last public concert which was held on the roof of Apple Records in London, only to have it broken up by police.
      c. 1975 the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary was established one of two marine sanctuaries created to protect a cultural resource the wreck of the U.S.S. Monitor as opposed to the other eleven which protect natural resources.  
      d. 1982 Richard Skrenta, a 15 year old high school student wrote one of the first PC computer virus codes disguised as an Apple boot program, the “Elk Cloner”—a glimpse into the future of things to come in cyber world.   
      e. 1995 workers from the National Institute of Health announced successful clinical trials for the treatment of sickle-cell disease which affects African Americans.
Reflections on theocracy by Mahatma Gandhi: “If I were a dictator, religion and state would be separate. I swear by my religion. I will die for it. But it is my personal affair. The state has nothing to do with it. The state would look after your secular welfare, health, communications, foreign relations, currency and so on, but not your or my religion. That is everybody's personal concern!”  When it comes to separation of church and state the mullahs need to read some of Gandhi’s views.
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© January 30, 2015 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet
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