Friday, June 6, 2014

This Day In History June 6, D-Day



Ridley's Believe It Or Not—June 6, 2014Hope you have time today over coffee and a donut (hopefully free in honor of National Donut Day) to reflect on the sacrifices of those men who landed in Normandy by sea and air on June 6, 1944 and that you enjoy the holidays, factoids, quote and two links to two poems written by me in honor of D-Day.
            1. D-Day—commemorating the landing on the Normandy beaches on June 6, 1944 by U.S., British, Canadian and Free French forces, the greatest amphibious landing of all time, immortalized in the movie The Longest Day and enjoyed in this poem: http://alaskanpoet.blogspot.com/2014/06/rhymes-on-newsworthy-times-70th.html
            2. UN Russian Language Day—commemorating one of the six working languages in the UN and celebrated on the birthday of Alexander Pushkin, great Russian poet and author (ironic that if D-Day had failed, most of Europe would be speaking Russian today and the UN as we know it might not exist).
            3. National Yo-Yo Day—celebrating the Yo-Yo, popularized in the U.S. by Donald Duncan who was born on this day in 1892; if you own one today is a great day to “walk the dog” or “shoot the moon”.
            4. Drive-in Theater Day---celebrating the establishment of the first drive-in movie theater in Camden, New Jersey on this day in 1933. Going to a drive-in with a date in the 60’s was one of the great rites of passage for a teenager; sadly, today less than 400 drive-ins remain and may soon become an extinct method of enjoying a movie experience.
            5.  National Donut Day—a holiday created by the Salvation Army in 1938 to honor those who served donuts to GIs in WWI and observed today by many donut chains offering a free donut; jog on down so you can burn off the calories of these tasty morsels.
On this day in:
            a. 1932 the Revenue Act of 1932, creating the first federal gasoline tax (one cent per gallon, rising to 18.4 cents today even as the Highway Trust Fund will soon run out of money) was enacted into law. 
            b. 1984 Tetris, one of the best-selling video games of all times was released.
            c. 2004 Ronald Reagan, who on the 40th anniversary of D-Day at Pointe du Hoc had delivered one of the most inspirational speeches of all times, died. For a tribute to the soldiers who accomplished the impossible at Pointe du Hoc go to http://alaskanpoet.blogspot.com/2013/09/lost-poem-pointe-du-hoc.html
            d. 2005 the U.S. Supreme Court in one of its less than humane moments in the case of Gonzales v. Raich upholds a federal law banning the cannabis, including medical marijuana. 
Words just as meaningful today as in 1984 as the U.S. seems to be withdrawing from the world stage as a
leader: “We in America have learned bitter lessons from two World Wars: It is better to be here ready to protect the peace, than to take blind shelter across the sea, rushing to respond only after freedom is lost. We've learned that isolationism never was and never will be an acceptable response to tyrannical governments with an expansionist intent. We in America have learned bitter lessons from two World Wars: It is better to be here ready to protect the peace, than to take blind shelter across the sea, rushing to respond only after freedom is lost. We've learned that isolationism never was and never will be an acceptable response to tyrannical governments with an expansionist intent. But we try always to be prepared for peace; prepared to deter aggression; prepared to negotiate the reduction of arms; and, yes, prepared to reach out again in the spirit of reconciliation with the Soviet Union, so, together, we can lessen the risks of war, now and forever.” Ronald Reagan at Pointe du Hoc June 6, 1984
Please enjoy the 140 character poems on events of interest on my twitter account below (if you like them, retweet and join almost 140 growing followers and please follow me) and follow my blogs. Always good, incisive and entertaining poems on my blogs--click on links below. www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com for poems to inspire, touch, emote, elate and enjoy. Go to Rhymes On The Newsworthy Times for comments on important and breaking news events that should be of interest.
© June 6, 2014 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet

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