August 16 History National Airborne Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not—August 16, 2015 Trust your Sunday is off to a great start with your weekend plans set and as  always remember to go to my blogs to receive Ridley's Believe It Or Not-This Day In History on Sunday and for today I  hope you enjoy Sunday’s holidays and observances,  factoids of interest, a music video by Vera Lynn, a relevant quote by J.E. Fraser, looking forward to enjoying a plate of bratwurst, blessed with a positive attitude 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. National Airborne Day—created by President George W. Bush to honor this nation’s airborne forces; the 101^st and the 82^nd are definitely the elite divisions of the U.S. Army.                                

       2. Xicolatada Day (Palaux-de-Compagne)—celebrated for over 300 years in this French village bordering Spanish Catalonia to provide hot chocolate drinks to overcome the effects of festival overdrinking the night before. If a chocoholic, this day and place ought to be on your bucket list.                                                         

       3. 1952 Number One Song—celebrating the number one song in 1952 on a run of nine weeks in that position Auf Weiderseh’n Sweetheart by Vera Lynn.  Here is a link to Vera Lynn performing Auf Weiderseh’n: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WsuLH4sulA

      4. National Bratwurst Day—celebrating this omnivore’s favorite sausage that has been around for centuries and popularized in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin in the 1920’s.  

      5. No More Keep On Trucking Kitchen Day—celebrating on this day in 1954 the birthday of the former trucker that quit hat job to become an iconic director of such classic and successful films like Titanic, Terminator, Aliens and that $2 billion winner Avatar—James Cameron. 

On this day in:                                           

       a. 1858 President James Buchanan instituted transatlantic cable service by telegraphing Queen Victoria.  

       b. 1896 Skookum Jim Mason, Dawson Charlie and George Carmack discovered gold in Rabbit Creek, a tributary to the Klondike River in the Yukon, setting off the Klondike Gold Rush.

       c. 1920 Roy Chapman of the Cleveland Indians was hit in the head by a fastball thrown by Carl Mays of the New York Yankees and died the next the day. Surprisingly batting helmets were not made mandatory in Major League Baseball until 1956.

       d. 1927 the Dole Air Race from Oakland, California to Honolulu, Hawaii started; sadly six of the eight entrants crashed or disappeared.  

       e. 1954 the first issue of Sports Illustrated was published.                                      

Reflections on the Klondike Gold Rush: “The man who had a family to support who could not go was looked on with a sort of pity...the man who didn't care to leave his business or for other trivial reasons, was looked on with contempt as a man without ambition who did not know enough to take advantage of a good thing when placed in his reach..." J.E. Fraser, a Klondiker from San Francisco  Sadly the estimates are that only about 4,000 Klondikers found gold and the majority never recovered their expenses after enduring some significant hardships, not the least of which was a requirement imposed by the Canadian government that a Klondiker had to transport a ton of food to enter the Yukon.

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