Ridley's Believe It Or Not--This Day In History

Sunday, November 8, 2015

November 7 2015 Book Lovers' Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not—November 7, 2015, 440 days to go in President Obama’s term. Trust your Saturday is off to a great start and your weekend plans, including time allocated to watch college football this Saturday, are set; as always I hope you enjoy Saturday’s holidays and observances, factoids of interest, a music video by Tiffany, a relevant quote from Christopher Morley, looking forward to enjoying some bittersweet chocolate with almonds, 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. Book Lovers’ Day—commemorating all those bibliophiles whether they read in the old fashion way with hardcover or paper or the 21^st Century with a Nook or Kindle; before the games start, time to enjoy a little reading.

2. National Wine Tasting Day/National Wine Tourism Day—celebrating a great combo holiday-touring the great vineyards such as Napa Valley with the joy of wine tasting.

3. 1987 Number One Song—celebrating the number one song in 1987 on a run of two weeks in that position I Think We’re Alone Now by Tiffany. Here is a link to Tiffany performing I Think We’re Alone Now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6Q3mHyzn78

4. National Bittersweet Chocolate With Almonds Day—celebrating the tasty treat for chocoholics with a dose of protein to merit another piece without diet guilt.

5. Radiating Women Day—celebrating not all those glamorous and attractive women we see on the screen but rather the birthday on this day in 1867 of Madame Curie who discovered two radioactive elements radium and polonium and won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1903 and later won a Nobel Prize for Chemistry.

On this day in:

a. 1665 The London Gazette, the longest continuously publishing official journal of record published its first issue.

b. 1874 Thomas Nast’s cartoon in Harper’s Weekly portraying the Republican Party as an elephant was published.

c. 1916 Jeannette Rankin from Montana became the first woman to be elected to the United States House of Representatives and has the distinction of voting against a declaration of war against Germany I and after being returned to the House after a 22 year absence in 1940 was the only member of the House to vote against a declaration of war against Japan.

d. 1994 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill the student radio station WXYC aired the first internet radio broadcast.

e. 2000 the DEA discovered the largest LSD lab in the U.S. in a converted ICBM silo in Wamego, Kansas.

Reflections on why bibliophiles are keys to our society: “When you sell a man a book you don’t sell him just twelve ounces of paper and ink and glue - you sell him a whole new life. Love and friendship and humour and ships at sea by night - there’s all heaven and earth in a book, a real book I mean.”― Christopher Morley, Parnassus on Wheels

Please enjoy the poems on events of interest on my twitter account below (if you like them, retweet and join 164 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 or go to Ridley's Believe It Or Not for just This Day In History.

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Friday, November 6, 2015

Ridley's Believe It Or Not For November 6, 2015

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not—November 6, 2015, 441 days to go in President Obama’s term. Trust your Friday is off to a great start and your weekend plans, including time allocated to watch college football this Saturday, are set; as always I hope you enjoy Friday’s holidays and observances, factoids of interest, a music video by Boston, a relevant quote from Reverend Desmond Tutu, looking forward to enjoying some nachos with your favorite topping, 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. Basketball Day—commemorating the birthday of Joe Naismith, creator of what should be called ballet with a ball, basketball, on this day in 1861.

2. National Saxophone Day—celebrating the creation of a great musical instrument the saxophone, patented in 1846 but observed on November 6 as that is the day of the birthday of its creator Adolphe Sax in 1814.

3. 1986 Number One Song—celebrating the number one song in 1986 on a run of two weeks in that position Amanda by Boston. Could not find a music link to Boston performing Amanda:

4. National Nachos Day—celebrating the tasty snack that no Super Bowl Game Party is complete without.

5. One Of The Ten Things Not To Do Before Checking Out Of The World Day—celebrating the birthday on this day in1955 of Maria Shriver, niece to President John Kennedy and married to two term Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger until finding out he had had a child with their housekeeper while they were still married.

On this day in:

a. 1934 Memphis became the first city to join the Tennessee Valley Authority.

b. 1944 plutonium, the ingredient in the second atomic bomb which was dropped on Nagasaki, was produced for the first time at the Hanford Nuclear Facility in Washington State.

c. 1962 the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution condemning the apartheid policies of South Africa and called upon all members to terminate economic and military relations with South Africa. 32 years later proving that like men, no nation, other than perhaps the rogue nation of North Korea, can be an island in and to itself, apartheid came to an end.

d. 1965 the United States and Cuba sign an agreement whereby any Cubans who wish to emigrate to the United States will be airlifted there. By 1971 some 250,000 Cubans, including the parents-to-be of Marco Rubio, who may become the Republican Presidential Nominee, had landed and settled in the United States.

e. 2012 Democratic Senator from Wisconsin Tammy Butler became the first openly gay person to be elected to the United States Senate.

Hindsight predictions on why apartheid would fail: “I've never doubted that apartheid - because it was of itself fundamentally, intrinsically evil - was going to bite the dust eventually.” Reverend Desmond Tutu, long time South African critic of apartheid and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his role in ending apartheid.

Please enjoy the poems on events of interest on my twitter account below (if you like them, retweet and join 164 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 or go to Ridley's Believe It Or Not for just This Day In History.

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Thursday, November 5, 2015

November 5 History Bank Transfer Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not—November 5, 2015, 442 days to go in President Obama’s term. Trust your Thursday is off to a great start; as always I hope you enjoy Thursday’s holidays and observances, factoids of interest, music videos by an Hammer and Simon and Garfunkel, a relevant but troubling quote from a deceased fanatic Ayatollah Khomeini, looking forward to avoiding too many donuts no matter how hard that is to do, 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. Guy Fawkes Day (Gunpowder Day)—commemorating the attempt of Guy Fawkes and his conspirators to blow up the English Parliament Building with 36 barrels of gunpowder to kill King James I due to his prosecution of Catholics. Guy Fawkes was arrested as he was attempting to light the gunpowder.

2. Bank Transfer Day—promoted by consumer activists to urge consumers to transfer their accounts from large commercial banks to not for profit credit unions whose fees are a fraction of the gouging practiced large commercial banks.

3. 1985 Number One Song—celebrating the number one song in 1985 on a brief run of one week in that position Miami Vice Theme by Jan Hammer. Here is a link to Jan Hammer performing Miami Vice Theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQDU-2qMre0

4. National Donut Day—celebrating the tasty complement to a morning coffee.

5. Troubled Waters Need A Bridge Day—celebrating not the efforts of civil engineers who design and build bridges that span rivers, seas and lakes but rather the birthday on this day in 1941 of Art Garfunkel, one half of the noted iconic pop singer duo of Simon and Garfunkel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_a46WJ1viA

On this day in:

a. 1492 Christopher Columbus learned of the existence of maize (corn) from Indians on the island of Cuba although popcorn did not start to appear on the American diet until the 1820’s.

b. 1895 George Selden was granted the first U.S. patent for a gasoline powered automobile for which he received very little royalties and after a patent litigation with Henry Ford which generated 14,000 pages of documentation suffered the appellate court invalidating his patent.

c. 1917 the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Buchanan v. Warley invalidated Louisville’s ordinance that required whites and blacks to live in separate areas.

d. 1935 Parker Brothers launched the board game Monopoly.

e. 1979 Ayatollah Khomeini in one of his first proclamations upon replacing the Shah as the supreme leader of Iran declared the United States to be the Great Satan—no wonder these fanatics poured into the streets yesterday burning American flags and chanting “Death to America!”

One only hopes that the Iranian youth hear proclamations such as these and reject them to try to join the human race: “An Islamic regime must be serious in every field. There are no jokes in Islam. There is no humour in Islam. There is no fun in Islam.” Ayatollah Khomeini Iranians as opposed to the fanatic theocrats who suppress them probably merit our empathy and prayers for the conditions they find themselves in.

Please enjoy the poems on events of interest on my twitter account below (if you like them, retweet and join 164 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 or go to Ridley's Believe It Or Not for just This Day In History.

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Wednesday, November 4, 2015

November 4 History National Common Sense Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not—November 4, 2015, 442 days to go in President Obama’s term. Trust your Wednesday is off to a great start; as always I hope you enjoy Wednesday’s holidays and observances, factoids of interest, a music video by Billy Ocean, a relevant quote from Thomas Alva Edison, looking forward to avoiding too much candy, 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 Common Sense Day—promoting the need to utilize common sense as a tool to solve issues and problems and celebrated on this day which is the birthday of noted humorist Will Rogers noted for the observation that “Common sense ain’t that common.”

2. National Eating Healthy Day—promoted by the American Health Association to change American’s eating habits to consume more fruits and vegetables and other food items needed to promote a healthy heart.

3. 1984 Number One Song—celebrating the number one song in 1984 on a run of three weeks in that position Caribbean Queen by Billy Ocean. Here is a link to Billy Ocean performing Caribbean Queen:

4. National Candy Day—bemoaning the consumption of sugar laced candy but acknowledging the pervasiveness of the sugar tooth that rules most Americans especially chocoholics.

5. Quiet Terminators Do, Not Shout —celebrating not another accomplishment of Arnold in his Terminator roles but the birthday on this day in 1975 of noted Australian chef Curtis Stone known as “The Quiet Terminator” and the star of Good Food Live.

On this day in:

a. 1847 Sir James Simpson discovered the properties of the anesthetic chloroform.

b. 1922 the archaeologist Howard Carter uncovered the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamen in the Valley of Kings, Egypt.

c. 1960 at the Kasakella Chimpanzee Community in Tanzania, Jane Goodell observed chimpanzees building tools, the first example of nonhumans engaged in that activity.

d. 1979 a mob of Iranians mostly students overran the U.S. Embassy and held 53 Americans hostage for 444 days contributing to the defeat of Jimmy Carter.

e. 1995 Israeli Premier Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by an extremist Israeli.

Reflections on how to succeed in life from one of the great inventors of all times: “The three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are, first, hard work; second, stick-to-itiveness; third, common sense.” Thomas A. Edison

Please enjoy the poems on events of interest on my twitter account below (if you like them, retweet and join 164 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 or go to Ridley's Believe It Or Not for just This Day In History.

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Tuesday, November 3, 2015

November 3 History National Housewife Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not—November 3, 2015, 443 days to go in President Obama’s term. Trust your Tuesday is off to a great start; as always I hope you enjoy Tuesday’s holidays and observances, factoids of interest, a music video by Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers, a relevant quote from Michael Kimmelman, looking forward to enjoying a sandwich with the bread and filing of your choice, 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 Housewife Day—promoting appreciation for the housewife or houseman in one’s life whose job is much closer to 24/7 than someone working nine to five outside the house.

2. National Cliché Day—don’t get out of the bed on the wrong side or fail to leave any stone unturned to find the right cliché today.

3. 1983 Number One Song—celebrating the number one song in 1983 on a run of two weeks in that position Islands In The Stream by Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers. Here is a link to Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers performing Islands In The Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lixDK_tMEhE

4. National Sandwich Day—celebrating from chicken to egg salad to hamburgers to tuna salad to all varieties in between of a typical lunch whether on the go, at one’s desk or sitting down in a restaurant. The day November 3 was chosen to mark the birthday of John Montagu, the Fourth Earl of Sandwich on this day in 1718, who instructed his servants to place slices of meat between two slices of bread so he could continue gambling.

5. Who Needs A Sheepskin Day —celebrating the birthday on this day in 1962 of noted Microsoft developer Gabe Newell who dropped out of Harvard University and founded Valve Corporation, an interactive video game company which has made him a billionaire.

On this day in:

a. 1911 Chevrolet entered the U.S. auto market to compete with the Ford Model T.

b. 1954 the first Godzilla film made in Japan was released.

c. 1957 Sputnik II carrying the first animal into space, a dog Laika; sadly since satellites were unable to deorbit and return, Laika became the first casualty of space exploration.

d. 1964 residents of Washington, D.C. were able to vote in presidential elections for the first time.

e. 2014 One World Trade Center a little over 13 years after its destruction on 9/11 was opened.

Reflections on One World Trade Center: “It abruptly stops at 1,368 feet, the height of the former twin towers, achieving its symbolic target number—1,776 feet—by virtue of a skinny antenna. Counting the antenna is like counting relish at a hot dog eating contest.” Noted architecture critic for The New York Times Michael Kimmelmann

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.

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Monday, November 2, 2015

November 2 History All Souls Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not—November 2, 2015, 444 days to go in President Obama’s term. Trust your Monday is off to a great start and your favorite pro football teams were victorious; as always I hope you enjoy Monday’s holidays and observances, factoids of interest, a music video by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes, a relevant quote from Howard Hughes, looking forward to enjoying a plate of deviled eggs, 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. All Souls Day—observed by Christians to commemorate the souls who have departed.

2. Plan Your Epitaph Day—promoting the proposition that a forgettable grave stone is a fate worse than death—e.g. on memorable is the epitaph to Sir William Strange, a lawyer. “Here lies an honest lawyer and that is Strange.”

3. 1982 Number One Song—celebrating the number one song in 1982 on a run of three weeks in that position Up Where We Belong by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes. Here is a link to Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes performing Up Where We Belong: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8sFtJV6-C8

4. National Deviled Eggs Day—celebrating a great to enhance a hardboiled egg.

5. Be A Walker Not A Runner Day —celebrating the birthday on this day in 1967 that noted walker, Scott Walker, governor of Wisconsin, who in his heart of hearts is probably happy as a clam that he is no longer running for President of the United States.

On this day in:

a. 1898 cheerleading is introduced to football fans at the University of Minnesota with the nation’s first cheerleader Johnny Campbell leading the fans to root for the Golden Gophers.

b. 1920 KDKA in Pittsburgh, the first commercial radio station in the U.S. began broadcasting.

c. 1947 Howard Hughes made the first and only flight of the “Spruce Goose”, the largest fixed wing airplane ever built.

d. 1959 in a black day for integrity, Charles Van Doren who had won over $100,000 on the quiz show Twenty One testified before Congress that he had received the right answers to quiz questions.

e. 2000 the first resident crew for the International Space Station arrived on their Soyuz TM-31 spacecraft.

Reflections on the Spruce Goose: “I put the blood of my life into this thing. I have my reputation rolled up in it, and I have stated that if it was a failure I probably will leave this country and never come back, and I mean it.” Howard Hughes, noted aviator and industrialist who became very reclusive in the later years of his life.

Please enjoy the 140 character poems on events of interest on my twitter account below (if you like them, retweet and join 164 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 or go to Ridley's Believe It Or Not for just This Day In History.

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Sunday, November 1, 2015

November 1 History World Vegan Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not—November 1, 2015, 446 days to go in President Obama’s term. Trust your Halloween was a great one and your favorite college teams were victorious; as always I hope you enjoy Sunday’s holidays and observances, factoids of interest, a music video by Hall and Oates, a relevant quote from Johnathan Safran Foer, looking forward to enjoying a plate of deep fried clams, 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 Bison Day—proposed since 2012 as an official day to celebrate the importance of bison in the cultural fabric of the American Indians; almost shot to extinction in the 19^th Century, the herds are making a comeback.

2. World Vegan Day—promoting to the joy of all animals that are raised or caught for food the benefits of a meat free, milk free and egg free diet.

3. 1981 Number One Song—celebrating the number one song in 1981 on a run of two weeks in that position Private Eyes by Hall and Oates. Here is a link to Hall and Oates performing Private Eyes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsntlJZ9h1U

4. National Deep Fried Clams Day—celebrating another great way albeit with more fat to celebrate those tasty mollusks.

5. An Apple A Day Keeps The Doctor Away And If Cooked Right Makes For A Very Wealthy Man Day—celebrating the birthday on this day in 1960 of Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple whose compensation is the highest in the world, coming in at over 300 million dollars in 2012.

On this day in:

a. 1512 the Sistine Chapel painted by Michelangelo was opened to the public for the first time.

b. 1800 John Adams became the first President of the United States to reside in the Executive Mansion (later renamed the White House.

c. 1870 the U.S. Weather Service issued its first meteorological forecast (not sure whether it was remotely accurate).

d. 1896 the first published photo of a woman’s breasts was published by the National Geographic Magazine.

e. 1960 while campaigning for the presidency John Kennedy announced his idea for the creation of the Peace Corps.

Reflections on Veganism: “Elsewhere the paper notes that vegetarians and vegans (including athletes) 'meet and exceed requirements' for protein. And, to render the whole we-should-worry-about-getting-enough-protein-and-therefore-eat-meat idea even more useless, other data suggests that excess animal protein intake is linked with osteoporosis, kidney disease, calcium stones in the urinary tract, and some cancers. Despite some persistent confusion, it is clear that vegetarians and vegans tend to have more optimal protein consumption than omnivores.” Jonathan Safran Foer, author of Eating Animals

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