June 14 History Flag Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not—June 14, 2015 Trust your weekend is proving to be a great one and you are displaying the American flag.  As always, I hope you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, factoids of interest, a  music video by the Rolling Stones, a relevant quote by Senator John Thune, looking forward to enjoying a piece of strawberry shortcake, blessed with a positive attitude and secure in the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for any memorable event like Fathers’ Day, 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. If you want to give another unique gift that has this omnivore seal of approval order some Kelli’s Cookies: http://www.kelliscookies.com/index.php/shop-by-product/fathers-day-specials.html
       1. Flag Day—celebrating the adoption by the Continental Congress of the official flag of the United States on this day in 1777 although not until 1916 by proclamation of President Woodrow Wilson was the day recognized as National Flag Day although not a federal holiday.

       2. World Blood Donor Day—Since 2002, a World Health Organization observance honoring those volunteers who by donating blood are giving the gift of life.       

        3. 1966 Number One Song—celebrating the number one song in 1966 on a two week run, a great 60’s classic by an iconic rock band still going strong, Paint It Black by the Rolling Stones. With an apology for the ad to endure, here is a link to the Rolling Stones performing Paint It Black:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-7TRVsArgI

        4.  National Strawberry Shortcake Day—celebrating that great combo of strawberries, whipped cream and cake.

        5.  Go Tell It on the Mountain Day—celebrating not the lines from a song but the birthday on this day in 1953 of Pat Summit, former basketball coach at Tennessee whose career resulted in the most wins (1098) by any basketball coach and would be still winning today but for the Alzheimer’s Disease that ended her career in 2012.
On this day in:                                           

       a. 1775 the Continental Congress established the Continental Army.

       b. 1789 a clergyman Elijah Craig distilled whiskey from maize for the first time, calling it bourbon because he lived in Bourbon County, Kentucky.    

       c. 1846 Anglo settlers in Sonoma, California declared the creation of the Bear Republic and independence from Mexico. The start of the Mexican American War and the arrival of U.S. Naval forces ended the Bear Republic on July 9, 1846.

       d. 1951 Univac 1, the first commercial computer, all 5,200 vacuum tubes and weighing in at 29,000 was dedicated by the U.S. Census Bureau. What is amazing in terms of the speed of technological advance is that the smart phone in your hand has more computer capability and computing speed than the Univac.

       e. 2002 in a close call moment 73 meter wide asteroid MN 2002 came within 75,000 miles of the Earth; what is really frightening is that the asteroid was not discovered until three days after it was speeding away from the Earth.                          

Reflections on the American flag on this Flag Day: “I believe our flag is more than just cloth and ink. It is a universally recognized symbol that stands for liberty, and freedom. It is the history of our nation, and it's marked by the blood of those who died defending it.” - John Thune, Republican Senator from South Dakota. What is amazing on this day is that students, albeit it vocal minorities, at publicly funded universities like UCI have protested the flag’s display on campus.    

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© June 14, 2015 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet
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