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      Welcome!   03/05/2016

      Welcome, everyone, to the new 910CMX Community Forums. I'm still working on getting them running, so things may change.  If you're a 910 Comic creator and need your forum recreated, let me know and I'll get on it right away.  I'll do my best to make this new place as fun as the last one!
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This Day In History

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June 19

325 – The original Nicene Creed was presented at the First Council of Nicaea.  This is what Christians believe.  Case closed.  No need to argue the details after this.

1269 – King Louis IX of France orders all Jews found in public without an identifying yellow badge to be fined ten livres of silver.  Is this supposed to be historical precedent to justify certain actions of a later Austrian Corporal?

1865 – Over two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, slaves in Galveston, Texas, United States, are finally informed of their freedom. The anniversary is still officially celebrated in Texas and 41 other contiguous states as Juneteenth.  More than two years to deliver a message?  It's almost like the government and newspapers in the seceding states were deliberately avoiding getting Lincoln's message to the public.

1867 – Maximilian I of the Second Mexican Empire is executed by a firing squad in Querétaro, Querétaro.  Ask any Caesar or Augustus you might meet.  This sort of thing is an occupational hazard for Emperors.

1903 – Benito Mussolini, then a radical Socialist, arrested by Bern police for advocating a violent general strike.  WHY DID THEY LET HIM GO?

1978 – Garfield, holder of the Guinness World Record for the world's most widely syndicated comic strip, makes its debut.  Of course it is on a Monday.

1979 – W.T. Rabe, at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Michigan, creates World Sauntering Day.  This is in response to the growing insanity/popularity of jogging.

1991 – The Soviet occupation of Hungary ends.  It is difficult for one country to occupy a second country when the first country itself no longer exists.

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32 minutes ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

1865 – Over two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, slaves in Galveston, Texas, United States, are finally informed of their freedom. The anniversary is still officially celebrated in Texas and 41 other contiguous states as Juneteenth.  More than two years to deliver a message?  It's almost like the government and newspapers in the seceding states were deliberately avoiding getting Lincoln's message to the public.

There were a couple of problems with spreading the word of the Emancipation Proclamation.

1. By its own terms it had effect only in areas where the government-in-control at that time denied the authority of the issuing government to apply it. So, while the US government thought it had effect in Galveston, the governments of the Confederacy, Texas, and Galveston thought it was a bunch of hooey. And they wouldn't want to tell the slaves about some foreign government's nonsense...

2. Of course, it should have taken effect in Galveston when the Confederacy surrendered. There was a little problem though: in Texas, the Union forces were on the run, having just had their hindquarters handed to them gift-wrapped in a basket a few days before. So when a Texan messenger caught up with them to inform them that they had won... they then relied on the Texan army that had just been chasing them to feed them and treat their wounded. Even a civil insurrection in Galveston might have wiped them out. As a result, their commander chose to skip over certain details, in order to not upset the local folks overmuch, until proper reinforcements arrived.

Word of the Emancipation Proclamation was properly spread - when the Union forces in the area were able to enforce it.

(In another odd twist, among the very FIRST people to lose ownership of slaves as a result of the Civil War was General Robert E. Lee. He freed all his slaves when he accepted command of the Confederate army. But among the very LAST people to lose ownership of slaves as a result of the Civil War was Ulysses S. Grant, the ultimate top general of the Union army, who held onto a few up until the 14th Amendment took effect.)

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June 20

451 – Battle of Chalons: Flavius Aetius' battles Attila the Hun. After the battle, which was inconclusive, Attila retreats, causing the Romans to interpret it as a victory.  Julius Caesar or Hadrian would not have called a stalemate where the enemy leader escapes a "Victory".  Things just aren't what they used to be in the old legion.

1837 – Queen Victoria succeeds to the British throne.  Rumor has it that King William IV hated Victoria's mother, Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, so much that he refused to die until after Alexandra Victoria turned eighteen.  Just so Princes Victoria could not make herself Regent for her daughter even briefly.

1893 – Lizzie Borden is acquitted of the murders of her father and stepmother.  Let this be a lesson to future prosecutors,  you need more than a snappy poem to make a jury convict.  Also, Lizzie Borden's defense attorney was the former Governor of Massachusetts who had earlier appointed the judge who presided over the case.

1895 – The Kiel Canal, crossing the base of the Jutland peninsula and the busiest artificial waterway in the world, is officially opened.  Because who really wants to deal with Norway, Sweden, and Denmark just to go in and out of the Baltic?

1931 – Birth of Olympia Dukakis, American actress.  In 1988, she would be nominated for an Oscar and her cousin would be nominated for the Presidency of the United States.  Only one would win.

1944 – The experimental MW 18014 V-2 rocket reaches an altitude of 176 km, becoming the first man-made object to reach outer space.  This was followed by...

1945 – The United States Secretary of State approves the transfer of Wernher von Braun and his team of Nazi rocket scientists to the U.S. under Operation Paperclip.  So much could be said, but Tom Lehrer said it best.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjDEsGZLbio

1975 – The film Jaws is released in the United States, becoming the highest-grossing film of that time and starting the trend of films known as "summer blockbusters".  The movie only made so much money because people were afraid to go to the beaches for completely unrelated reasons.

2003 – The Wikimedia Foundation is founded in St. Petersburg, Florida.  Among other things, they make it possible for frustrated comedians to look passably clever when posting items to This Date In History threads.

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June 21

AARUGH!!!!!  This got locked up in the editor instead of posting on time.

Oops

June Solstice.  Because Scandinavians don't need it to be dark to take a decent nap.

1768 – James Otis, Jr. offends the King and Parliament in a speech to the Massachusetts General Court.  Wait a minuteman!  Are we supposed to keep track of every time someone in America says something that offends the British King and Parliament?

1791 – King Louis XVI of France and his immediate family begin the Flight to Varennes during the French Revolution.  Louis, you would be better off catching the first flight out of France all together.

1898 – The United States captures Guam from Spain.  The Spanish colonial governor and all the most prominent military and civil officers come down to the port to greet the unexpected lone American warship.  There, the group is informed that Spain and the United States have been at war for some time now and they are all prisoners of war.

1982 – Birth of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge.  The Prince Charming prototype for the Millennial Generation.

2006 – Moons of Pluto that had been recently discovered in 2005 are officially named.  Hello Nix.  Hail Hydra!

Also, according to the American Humanist Association and the International Humanist and Ethical Union, this is World Humanist Day.  However, I do not believe in Humans.

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June 22

1633 – The Holy Office in Rome forces Galileo Galilei to recant his view that the Sun, not the Earth, is the center of the Universe in the form he presented it in, after heated controversy.  For those unfamiliar with the context, "Heated Controversy" at that time meant "If you keep saying these controversial things, you will be heated by burning at the stake".

1813 – War of 1812: After learning of American plans for a surprise attack on Beaver Dams in Ontario, Laura Secord sets out on a 30 kilometer journey on foot to warn Lieutenant James FitzGibbon.  Beaver Dams?  Was that really the best plan the American military could devise?  The United States is so lucky that Britain became bored with fighting us and was distracted (as always) by France.

1944 – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs into law the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the G.I. Bill.  Treating veterans with respect and care after they leave the armed service?  This could set a bad precedent.

1969 – The Cuyahoga River catches fire in Cleveland, Ohio, drawing national attention to water pollution, and spurring the passing of the Clean Water Act and the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency.  Even more significantly, it seals the status of Cleveland as a punchline for decades to come.

1978 – Charon, Pluto's first satellite, was discovered at the United States Naval Observatory by James W. Christy.  Dr Christy never explained why a satellite of Pluto was in the suburbs of Washington.  And by the time NASA sent a probe, it was back in orbit of the Dwarf Planet.

1990 – Cold War: Checkpoint Charlie is dismantled in Berlin.  Spies, defectors, and the inmates of Luft Stalag 13 discover their tunneling skills are now obsolete.

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8 hours ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

1982 – Birth of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge.  The Prince Charming prototype for the Millennial Generation.

He can't possibly be any worse than Prince Charles who at one time placed first on the "List of top ten Englishmen you'd rather have be French" for three years running.

8 hours ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

However, I do not believe in Humans.

That's okay. We still believe in you.

7 hours ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

Spies, defectors, and the inmates of Luft Stalag 13 discover their tunneling skills are now obsolete.

It is rumoured that they have recently been offered jobs in Canada and Mexico. Something about planned wall building.

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7 hours ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

1633 – The Holy Office in Rome forces Galileo Galilei to recant his view that the Sun, not the Earth, is the center of the Universe in the form he presented it in, after heated controversy.  For those unfamiliar with the context, "Heated Controversy" at that time meant "If you keep saying these controversial things, you will be heated by burning at the stake".

The discussions of heliocentrism were, up to that point, generally done politely and mostly focused on genuine arguments rather than blind fiat.  Galileo was friends with the new Pope, and was able to engage in numerous discussions of the question for many years.  When he wrote a book, Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, the Pope asked him to be sure to include his (the Pope's) point of view, but he was not told not to write the book, nor to not discuss the pros and cons of each viewpoint.

Unfortunately, Galileo decided to name the character in the book who espoused the Pope's viewpoint "Simplicio", basically "the Simpleton," and made sure his arguments were presented as full of holes and that he came across as an idiot.  If Galileo'd been a bit more politic, and presented the arguments in a less openly biased way, he might not have been in so much trouble.  Sure, he was right, but insulting his allies was not the best way to try to prove that.

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Also, my understanding is that Galileo wasn't forced to deny that the earth goes around the sun, he was forced to acknowledge that it wasn't proven to go around the sun. (Which it wasn't, at the time.)

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June 23

1532 – Henry VIII of England and Francis I of France sign a secret treaty against Emperor Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.  Mr VIII didn't need Secret Treaties to deal with inconvenient Queens.  Why should troublesome Emperors be so much more difficult?

1611 – Henry Hudson, his son, and seven loyal crew members are set adrift in an open boat in what is now Hudson Bay by the mutinous crew of Hudson's fourth voyage.  They are never heard from again.  The only part of the story I don't understand is why did the survivors admit to a mutiny?

1713 – The French residents of Acadia are given one year to declare allegiance to Britain or leave Nova Scotia, Canada.  Many choose to leave.  And many of those who leave settle in the Mississippi bayous where the descendants of the Acadians will become the ancestors of Cajun culture.  Somehow, Halifax Gumbo and Zydeco just wouldn't be as appealing as what grew in Louisiana.

1868 – Christopher Latham Sholes received a patent for an invention he called the "Type-Writer."  Within five years, the QWERTY keyboard would become standard.  Did the man just not understand the concept of Alphabetical Order?

1894 – The International Olympic Committee is founded at the Sorbonne in Paris, at the initiative of Baron Pierre de Coubertin.  This is a friendly exercise to encourage physical fitness and sport in education.  Certainly not a juggernaut of marketing and propaganda.

1940 – Architect Albert Speer and sculptor Arno Breker guide Adolf Hitler through the architecture of Paris in his only visit to the city.  This was a three-hour tour.  A three-hour tour.

1942 – World War II: Germany's latest fighter aircraft, a Focke-Wulf Fw 190, is captured intact when it mistakenly lands at RAF Pembrey in Wales.  What does that pilot tell the other German prisoners when he gets to the POW camp?  Do SOUTH and NORTH look more similar to each other on a German compass?

1960 – The United States Food and Drug Administration declares Enovid to be the first officially approved combined oral contraceptive pill in the world.  This is a medical issue with absolutely no social, political, or religious connections.

1961 – The Antarctic Treaty, which sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve and bans military activity on the continent, comes into force 18 months after the opening date for signature was set for December 1, 1959.  Ban military activity on Antarctica?  Guys, this is called the "Cold War" for a reason.  There is no colder place on Earth you could hold a war.

1991 – Sonic the Hedgehog is released to American audiences.  As unbelievable as it may seem, before this time most people thought the hedgehog was not a particularly swift moving animal and it relied on its spines for defense.

2016 – The United Kingdom votes in a referendum to leave the European Union, by 52% to 48%.  We're still waiting for the punchline to this joke, chaps.

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5 hours ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

Christopher Latham Sholes received a patent for an invention he called the "Type-Writer."  Within five years, the QWERTY keyboard would become standard.  Did the man just not understand the concept of Alphabetical Order?

He did. He tried it. It turned into a huge mess because very frequently used keys sat right next to one another when it was done that way. As a result the type bars kept getting tangled with one another. Eventually he and his co-designers came up with the QWERTY pattern which was less prone to such tangles.

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And the social inertia is so strong, QWERTY is still the default keyboard plan for English-speaking countries, even on touch-screen devices that are capable of responding so fast that they have to be deliberately made less responsive. And also that are vastly more flexible, giving many options other than "poke the key" and "poke this key while holding that key down".

(On my phone and tablet I use a 14-key keyboard that has over 100 symbols and operations without using a shift key.)

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29 minutes ago, Don Edwards said:

And the social inertia is so strong, QWERTY is still the default keyboard plan for English-speaking countries, even on touch-screen devices that are capable of responding so fast that they have to be deliberately made less responsive. And also that are vastly more flexible, giving many options other than "poke the key" and "poke this key while holding that key down".

(On my phone and tablet I use a 14-key keyboard that has over 100 symbols and operations without using a shift key.)

Do you know the name of the keyboard layout you use?  Did you install it custom, or did it come with the phone?

I suspect that QWERTY is still popular for a reason other than inertia.  Perhaps separating frequently-used keys still serves a practical function.

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53 minutes ago, CritterKeeper said:

I suspect that QWERTY is still popular for a reason other than inertia.

Partly it is because Dvorak is so full of completely bughouse ideas that they tend to seek refuge with Qwerty because he at least tries to keep his friend restrained.

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3 hours ago, CritterKeeper said:

Do you know the name of the keyboard layout you use?  Did you install it custom, or did it come with the phone?

It's the MessagEase keyboard. Available free from Google Play, and (I think) from the Apple Store.

The two most essential things to know about the MessagEase keyboard:

1) It WILL take some getting used to, but once you deal with a bit of a learning curve it's fast and easy.

2) Press-and-hold the Hand key to get to the help and configuration screens.

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7 hours ago, CritterKeeper said:

I suspect that QWERTY is still popular for a reason other than inertia

 

6 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

Partly it is because Dvorak is so full of completely bughouse ideas that they tend to seek refuge with Qwerty because he at least tries to keep his friend restrained.

And this discussion has entered freefall

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June 24

1374 – A sudden outbreak of St. John's Dance causes people in the streets of Aachen, Germany, to experience hallucinations and begin to jump and twitch uncontrollably until they collapse from exhaustion.  "Dance "Til You Drop" in this case is not an invitation to party.

1497 – John Cabot lands in North America at Newfoundland leading the first European exploration of the region since the Vikings.  If the Vikings didn't bother to return, what makes you think there will be something interesting this time?

1509 – Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon are crowned King and Queen of England.  Did Henry buy or rent that crown for the Queen?

1535 – The Anabaptist state of Münster is conquered and disbanded.  The profession of Münster hunting can have political uses besides simple public safety.

1779 – American Revolutionary War: The Great Siege of Gibraltar begins.  Because the attempt by France and Spain to seize Gibraltar is purely to support the American cause.  Not an attempt to push Britain out of the Mediterranean.

1813 – Battle of Beaver Dams: A British and Indian combined force defeats the United States Army.  If you fight a battle, you may lose.  That is simply a part of war.  But it can not be pleasant to explain how you lost the Battle of Beaver Dams.

1916 – Mary Pickford becomes the first female film star to sign a million-dollar contract.  Ridiculous decision.  Nobody goes to the movies to look at pretty girls.

1918 – First airmail service in Canada from Montreal to Toronto.  Does this mean everything west of Ontario still depends on smoke signals?

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June 25

1900 – The Taoist monk Wang Yuanlu discovers the Dunhuang manuscripts, a cache of ancient texts that are of great historical and religious significance, in the Mogao Caves of Dunhuang, China.  If you have a closet full of junk in your own lifetime, it is just trash.  But if you lock that closet full of junk away and let it be discovered after a thousand years, you have created an archeological treasure.

1945 – Birth of Carly Simon, American singer-songwriter.  I'm still upset she wrote that song about me.

1948 – Cold War: The Berlin airlift begins.  Perhaps the last time a decent meal was served by an airline.

1950 – The Korean War begins with the invasion of South Korea by North Korea.  This conflict ended tbd...

1960 – Cold War: Two cryptographers working for the United States National Security Agency left for vacation to Mexico, and from there defected to the Soviet Union.  Rumor has it that they were going to New Mexico but made a wrong turn at Albuquerque...

1978 – The rainbow flag representing gay pride is flown for the first time during the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade.  Descendants of Betsy Ross have not yet persuaded Congress that she also created this flag.  Although there is almost as much solid historical evidence tying her to this flag as there is tying her to the Revolutionary War flag.

1987 – National Catfish Day is proclaimed by Ronald Reagan.  In recognition of the value of farm-raised catfish, the Congress, by House Joint Resolution 178, has designated June 25, 1987, as "National Catfish Day" and authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation in its observance.  Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim June 25, 1987, as National Catfish Day. I call upon the people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.  Just what ARE the "appropriate ceremonies and activities" for Catfish Day?

Edited by Pharaoh RutinTutin
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June 26

4 AD – Augustus adopts Tiberius.  It may seem odd to some modern readers, but adopting an adult as your heir was a rather common way to determine succession and inheritance in several cultures.

221 – Roman emperor Elagabalus adopts his cousin Alexander Severus as his heir and receives the title of Caesar.  If you're a Roman Emperor, emulating Augustus is probably a good idea,  Even in the little details like the day you pick to adopt your heir.

363 – During the retreat from the Sasanian Empire, Roman emperor Julian the Apostate is killed.  There, the day couldn't be all good news for the Caesars.  Still, death in battle is far more dignified than the ways many Emperors met their demise.

1409 – Western Schism: The Council of Pisa crowns Petros Philargos as Pope Alexander V of the Roman Catholic Church.  Unfortunately, Pope Gregory XII is already reigning in Rome and Pope Benedict XII is leading the faithful in Avignon.  At this point, any attempt to resolve the matter by a committee would probably result in yet another Bishop of Rome in a different city.

1718 – Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia, Peter the Great's son, mysteriously dies after being sentenced to death by his father for plotting against him.  The Tsar sentences someone to death, and then they die.  What is so mysterious?

1906 – The first Grand Prix motor racing event held on closed public roads near Le Mans.  These motor-sports will never gain a following among the public.

1927 – The Cyclone roller coaster opens on Coney Island.  Travel tip.  When you go to Coney Island, wait until after riding the Cyclone before enjoying the Coney Island Hot Dog.

1948 – Shirley Jackson's short story The Lottery is published in The New Yorker magazine.  This is a Lottery I think I can win.

1977 – Elvis Presley held his final concert in Indianapolis, Indiana at Market Square Arena.  Elvis has left the building... for the final time.

1997 – The U.S. Supreme Court rules that the Communications Decency Act violates the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.  Let this be a lesson to anyone starting a new country.  If you give people the right to say and write whatever they want, they will want to say and write things you find offensive.

2003 – The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Lawrence v. Texas that gender-based sodomy laws are unconstitutional.

2013 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled, 5–4, that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act is in violation of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

2015 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled, 5–4, that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marriage under the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution.  So what will be the High Court's next decision regarding Decency, Love, Marriage, and Sexuality?

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2 hours ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

2013 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled, 5–4, that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act is in violation of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

I never did understand how it could be a defence of marriage to outlaw specific kinds of marriages. It seems that this particular act should have been named Discrimination Against Minorities Marrying, Isolating Them.

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There have been some incredibly stupid things done "in defense of marriage".

The town I went to college in, had a law that there couldn't be more than three unrelated adults of mixed sex renting a residence together. Yes, in a college town. Well, these four college students were renting a house together. The two young ladies had the two upstairs bedrooms, and the two young men had the two downstairs bedrooms. All four were dating people outside the household. Somebody raised a stink about them being in violation of city ordinance.

So after looking the situation over... all four were on the lease, and they needed all four of them to be able to afford the rent... a couple of them went down to the courthouse and got a paper marriage. That covered the legal situation. They continued to just be friends, they continued to date outside the household, and when the lease expired they went down to the courthouse and had the marriage annulled.

It seems clear to me that the effect of the law in this case was precisely the opposite of the intent. It turned marriage from a strong bond and foundation, to a triviality for bureaucratic convenience.

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June 27

1743 – In the Battle of Dettingen, George II becomes the last reigning British monarch to participate in a battle.  And it wasn't even a British battle.  It seems that just like the British Parliament didn't really need the King to run the government, the British Army didn't need the King to lead the troops.

1895 – The inaugural run of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's Royal Blue from Washington, D.C., to New York City, the first U.S. passenger train to use electric locomotives.  So the B&O Railroad and the Electric Company have the same owner?  Whatever it takes, do not let that player get his hands on Marvin's Gardens or Park Place.

1927 – Prime Minister of Japan Tanaka Giichi convenes an eleven-day conference to discuss Japan's strategy in China. The Tanaka Memorial, a forged plan for world domination, is later claimed to be a secret report leaked from this conference.  False plans, like the Tanaka Memorial or the Protocols of the Elders of Zion tend to get a lot of people excited.  Why don't the authors of these phony world domination plans for their enemies instead write actionable plans for the causes they actually support?

1946 – In the Canadian Citizenship Act, the Parliament of Canada establishes the definition of Canadian citizenship.  Despite the popular misconception, the prospective Canadian is not actually required to apologize for anything in the process.

1950 – The United States decides to send troops to fight in the Korean War, despite being woefully undermanned, under trained, and underequipped.  There were a lot of reasons, but the short answer is don't appoint high level administrators who immediately agree with all your public opinions.

1981 – The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issues its "Resolution on Certain Questions in the History of Our Party Since the Founding of the People's Republic of China", laying the blame for the Cultural Revolution on Mao Zedong.  A bold statement from a government to blame all their problems on a leader who had been dead for five years.

2013 – NASA launches the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, a space probe to observe the Sun.  Is it really an nifty acronym if the underlying name is a forced construction that only is there to make the nifty acronym?

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10 hours ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

1946 – In the Canadian Citizenship Act, the Parliament of Canada establishes the definition of Canadian citizenship.  Despite the popular misconception, the prospective Canadian is not actually required to apologize for anything in the process.

But do they need to say "eh" in almost every sentence?

10 hours ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

2013 – NASA launches the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, a space probe to observe the Sun.  Is it really an nifty acronym if the underlying name is a forced construction that only is there to make the nifty acronym?

In some fields of science, it's practically a requirement that things have snappy and/or easy to remember names. If they couldn't come up with an acronym, they might have just called it "Iris" anyway.

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June 28

1838 – Coronation of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.  An amazing coincidence that a Queen named Victoria is crowned near the beginning of the historical Victorian Era.

1846 – Adolphe Sax patents the saxophone.  The chase scene would never be the same.

1859 – The first conformation dog show is held in Newcastle upon Tyne, England.  Which dog is the most the same as the other dogs of its breed?  If generations of forced inbreeding isn't healthy for humans of remote villages or royal families, why is it good for dogs?

1894 – Labor Day becomes an official US holiday.  Celebrate the dignity and nobility of work by taking the day off.

1895 – The United States Court of Private Land Claims rules James Reavis' claim to Barony of Arizona is "wholly fictitious and fraudulent."  Why must the American Government refuse to acknowledge the royal claims of citizens just because we have no legitimate evidence?

1902 – The U.S. Congress passes the Spooner Act, authorizing President Theodore Roosevelt to acquire rights from Colombia for the Panama Canal.  Negotiations go well, until the Columbian Senate fails to ratify the initial treaty.  Rather than renegotiate, Roosevelt choses to support a rebellion in Panama and then negotiate with a new puppet state.

1911 – The Nakhla meteorite, the first one to suggest signs of aqueous processes on Mars, falls to Earth, landing in Egypt.  Yes, Egypt has contributions to make to science and culture that are not wrapped in linen and natron.

1914 – Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie are assassinated in Sarajevo; this is the casus belli of World War I.  The shots that killed the couple were actually the second assassination attempt.  Bombs had been detonated earlier in the day, but the politicians insisted upon keeping to the scheduled speeches and refused to let troops in the area enter the city to protect the Austro-Hungarian Heir Presumptive.

1926 – Birth of Mel Brooks, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter.  May the Schwartz be with you.

1997 – Holyfield–Tyson II: Mike Tyson is disqualified in the third round for biting a piece off Evander Holyfield's ear.  Is it really better to be disqualified for doing something insane rather than simply losing or throwing in the towel?

Also, 6.28 is 2 Pi Day, or Tau Day.

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