Ridley's Believe It Or Not For February 1, 2016 Start Of Black History Month

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For February 1, 2016, 354 days to go in President Obama’s pathetic lame duck term. Interesting theater on the political front in Iowa as Hillary Clinton dogged by the never ending email scandal with the FBI hot on her heels may do a déjà vu in Iowa and lose. As always, I hope you enjoy Monday’s holidays and observances, a music link to Joey Dee and the Starliters, factoids of interest, a relevant quote  from Carter Woodson, looking forward to enjoying a slice of Baked Alaska, 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 Freedom Day—celebrating the execution on this day in 1865 by Abraham Lincoln of the joint resolution by Congress approving the 13^th Amendment ending slavery and paving the way to send it to the  states for ratification.

2. Black History Month—celebrating since 1970 the achievements of and contributions to our culture of Afro-Americans in this county.

3. 1962 Number One Song—celebrating the number one song in 1962 on a run of three weeks in that position  Peppermint Twist by Joey Dee & the Starliters. Here is a link to Joey Dee and the Starliters performing Peppermint Twist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WIvZu4dPQQ  Check out the suits and narrow ties!

4. National Baked Alaska Day--celebrating an incredible desert—combination of cake covered with meringue with an ice cream core, baked for four minutes and served flambé style.

5. 44 Trumps Kung Fu—celebrating the birthday on this day in 1965 of Brandon Lee, son of Bruce Lee, who was  tragically killed in a firearm discharge while filming the Crow.

On this day in: 

a. 1884 the first volume A-Ant of the Oxford English Dictionary was published, starting a 44 year process to  complete the OED in 1928.

b. 1942 the Voice of America began broadcasting aiming its programs at areas occupied by the Axis.

c. 1930 1960 four black students staged the first lunch counter sit-ins in Greensboro, North Carolina to protest  segregation. 

d. 1968 Saigon police chief Nguyễn Ngọc Loan executed Viet Cong officer Nguyễn Văn Lém with a pistol shot  to head. The execution was captured by photographer Eddie Adams and became an anti-war icon.

                                                        

                                                      

e. 2003 the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated on reentry, killing all seven astronauts on board.

Reflections on Black History Month: “We should emphasize not Negro history, but the Negro in history. What we need is not a history of selected races or nations, but the history of the world void of national bias, race

hate, and religious prejudice."  Carter Woodson, noted Afro-American author and historian and one of the first  scholars to study Afro-American history

Please enjoy the poems on events of interest on my twitter account below (if you like them, retweet and  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 or go to Ridley's Believe It Or Not for just This Day In History.

© February 1, 2016, Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet
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