February 1 History Freedom Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not—February 1, 2015 Trust your Super Bowl Sunday 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 Martin Luther King, Jr.,  with a smile on your face, enjoying a slice of Baked Alaska, 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. Freedom Day —commemorating Abraham Lincoln’s signature to the joint resolution amending the Constitution to abolish slavery passed the day before on this day in 1865; the joint resolution was then sent to the states for ratification as the 13^th Amendment.

       2. National Black History Month—commemorating the contributions of African-Americans throughout our nation’s history.

       3. 2001 Number One Song—celebrating the number one song on this day in 2001 as part of only a 2 week run It Wasn’t Me by Shaggy featuring  Ricardo "RikRok" Ducent, reggae singer from Jamaica.

        4. National Baked Alaska Day—great desert to enjoy after all the guests to your Super Bowl party have left after cleaning out all your beer and wine and snacks. 

        5. Stoner Day—celebrating not all the smokers of too much pot but rather the birthday on this day in 1747 of Jacob Roggenveen, a Dutch explorer who in search of Australia discovered Easter Island with its collection of giant stone heads.
On this day in
     a. 1893 Thomas Edison finished construction of the first motion picture studio known as the Black Maria in West Orange, New Jersey.
     b. 1960 in Greensboro, North Carolina four black students staged the first of many sit-ins in the South protesting segregation of dining facilities.  
     c. 1968 in Saigon during the 2^nd day of the Tet Offensive South Vietnamese National Police Chief Nguyen Ngoc Loan was videotaped and photographed executing a suspected Viet Cong; one of the more iconic and tragic images of the war that at least helped turn Americans against the war, although not soon enough for the suspect who crumpled to the ground dead.
                                                                   

                  

      d. 1979 the Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Iran after 15 years in exile propelling that nation into the theocracy it now is today.    
      e. 2004 Janet Jackson’s breast was exposed on live TV during the half time show of Super Bowl XXXVIII.
Reflections on Freedom Day: “Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor. It must be demanded by the oppressed.” Martin Luther King, Jr. Mind boggling that 95 years after the signing by President Lincoln of the 13^th Amendment dining facilities throughout the South were segregated.
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© February 1, 2015 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet
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