April 16 History World Voice Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not—April 16 2015 Trust you escaped the clutches of the IRS and your Thursday will be a great one worthy of giving and receiving high fives (it’s High Five Day). As always, I  hope you enjoy the holidays and observances albeit somewhat meager today, factoids of interest, music videos of Honey and Son of a Preacher Man and  a relevant quote by Jack Kevorkian,  having enjoyed an Eggs Benedict for breakfast, 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 any memorable event like birthdays, weddings, or anniversaries, 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. World Voice Day—celebrating since 1999 the phenomenon of voice and its role in our daily lives.
       2. Emancipation Day (Washington, D.C.)—commemorating the day April 16, 1862 when Abraham Lincoln emancipated the slaves (over 3,000) living in Washington, D.C. The day has been an official holiday in our nation’s capital since 2005. Given the oppressive tax and regulatory burden emanating from D.C., we mere mortals living outside the Beltway are still waiting for our emancipation from Washington.
      3. 1968 Number One Song—celebrating the number one song in 1968 on a five week run Honey by that Bobby Goldsboro, a pop and country singer in the 60’s and 70’s. Here is a music video of Bobby Goldsboro performing Honey which sold over a million copies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKAeeGnAYBo
      4. National Eggs Benedict Day-- Nothing like an Eggs Benedict to start your breakfast, especially if you have a surplus of ham from celebrating Spiral Glazed Ham Day on the 15^th.
      5. Swinging Sixties Day—celebrating the birthday on this day in 1939 of that iconic British pop singer, Dusty Springfield  inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame two weeks after her death from breast cancer in March of 1969. Son of a Preacher Man sold over three million copies and here is a link to her performing the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dp4339EbVn8
On this day in
     a. 73 the Jewish fortress at Masada was taken by 15,000 Romans who discovered its 960 defenders had committed suicide rather than surrender. The capture resulted in the end of the Jewish Revolt against Rome.
     b. 1818 the U.S. Senate ratified the Bush-Bagot treaty which established the border between the U.S. and Canada which unfortunately we failed to take in the War of 1812.
     c. 1947 Bernard Baruch coined the term the “Cold War” to describe the relationship between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. It was a war in which, although we came very close to nuclear Armageddon during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the two countries dodged the nuclear bullet. Under Putin and Obama the temperature of the relationship seems to be rising.
     d. 1990 the Doctor of Death, Jack Kevorkian, participated in his first assisted suicide. Controversy over the right to die rages still in this nation with terminally ill people moving to Oregon to be able to take advantage of its laws allowing the procedure. 
   e. 2007 Cho Seung-hui, a senior at Virginia Tech, suffering from selective mutism  and severe depression, went on a shooting rampage at Virginia Tech, killing 30 and wounding 17 and then killing himself as police finally closed in.
Reflections by Jack Kevorkian on self determination: "If you don't have liberty and self-determination, you've got nothing, that's what this is what this country is built on. And this is the ultimate self-determination, when you determine how and when you're going to die when you're suffering.” Jack Kevorkian Ideally in a perfect world such decision would  made without the pressure of would be heirs wanting a piece of the estate. As medicine increases the chance of survival of premature fetuses on one end and becomes much more adept at treatment and pain management at the other end, interesting ethical issues increase. 
Please enjoy the 140 character poems on events of interest on my twitter account below (if you like them, retweet and join 155 growing followers and please follow me) and follow my blogs. Always good, incisive and entertaining poems on my blogs—click on the links below. Go to www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com for Ridley’s Believe It Or Not—This Day In History, poems to inspire, touch, emote, elate and enjoy and poems on breaking news items of importance. Go to Rhymes On The Newsworthy Times for comments on important and breaking news events that should be of interest. www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com Ridley's Believe It Or Not  Rhymes On The Newsworthy Times © April 16, 2015 Michael P. Ridley aka the AlaskanpoetAlaskanpoet for Hire, Poems to Admire
Poet Extraordinaire Beyond Compare
Rhymes for All the Memorable Times
The Perfect gift, All Recipients to Receive a Lasting lift