Post
by Richard Frost » Fri Jun 25 2021 11:10am
25th March 2021
International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade
The United Nations' (UN) International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade is on March 25 each year. It honours the lives of those who died as a result of slavery or experienced the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade.
International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff Members
The International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff Members is marked each year on the anniversary of the abduction of Alec Collett, a former journalist who was working for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) when he was abducted by armed gunman in 1985. His body was finally found in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley in 2009. This day has taken on even greater importance in recent years, as attacks against the United Nations intensify. This is a day to mobilize action, demand justice and strengthen our resolve to protect UN staff and peacekeepers, as well as our colleagues in the non-governmental community and the press.
Global Beatles Day
It was in the year 1960, on a foggy island found Nor-Norwest of Spain that music history changed forever. Four young proto-gods came together to form what would be one of the most influential rock bands to ever come out of England, if not the entire world. We’re speaking, of course, of the Beatles. Paul McCartney, George Harrison, John Lennon, and Ringo Starr. These four boys came together to change the world one song at a time.
Take Your Dog To Work Day
Dogs have been man’s best friend far back into pre-history when they became domesticated by choosing to live and work alongside mankind. From the very beginning, they worked alongside us, hunting and tracking and even keeping us safe at night by growling and barking when danger reared its ugly head. In modern day, this relationship has been forgotten, and the poor pooch is now left to sit at home while we go about our daily business. Take Your Dog To Work Day is set to change this old policy back again, and bring the happy puppy back into our daily work lives.
Goats Cheese Day
Typically when we think of cheese, we imagine fields of cows and massive dairy operations or juicy hamburgers topped with delicious and flavourful cheese. What if we told you that cows are not the only animals whose milk can be used to make cheese? They are by far the most popular, in part due to their ability to produce impressive quantities, but there are other forms of milk that can be made into cheese, and many of them are surprisingly delicious… Goats Cheese Day celebrates one such cheese, and one of the secrets that modern science has hidden in the milk it’s made from.
Strawberry Parfait Day
Strawberry Parfait Day, dedicated to that delicious treat that is so welcome during the hot summer months, and craved even in the face of the biting cold of winter by the true connoisseur. The exotic sounding name brings to mind the quaint little street-side cafes of Paris, where the treat so many of us are familiar with found its origin. It’s name describes the treat to a tee, Parfait means, simply, “Perfect”. But a perfect what? The word parfait has actually been used to describe quite a number of different things, and not all of them are delicious layered deserts. In the UK, the word is actually used to describe a smooth meat paste, also known as a pate, that is traditionally made from the liver of a chicken or duck, mixed with a strong liquor of one form or another. This is certainly not what Strawberry Parfait Day is about! Instead, our parfait are those popularized by ice cream shops all over the world, especially those served in layers of delectable ice-creams and gelatines with drool worthy fruit toppings.
Colour TV Day
There is an innovation that many of us take for granted every day. Whether we’re sitting at our computers, watching television with the family, or even playing with our handheld games, we are inundated with a bright parade of colours. Colour TV Day reminds us that this hasn’t always been the case, when Television was first introduced we had nothing but black and white images, really more of a myriad shade of grey. In 1951, an event came to pass that changed the future of broadcast entertainment forever. The first commercial broadcast was a variety show, containing a number of entertainers, whose name would go on to become legend, including Ed Sullivan. While this broadcast was only available to those who owned a colour-ready TV, it was the first step to changing everything.
A selection of Birthdays
1242 Beatrice of England, Duchess of Brittany, daughter of Henry III of England, born in Bordeaux, France (d. 1275)
1726 Thomas Pennant, Welsh naturalist, born in Downing, Wales (d. 1798)
1799 David Douglas, Scottish botanist (Douglas fir), born in Scone, Perthshire (d. 1834)
1852 Antoni Gaudí, Catalan-Spanish architect (Sagrada Família, Casa Milà, Casa Batlló), born in Reus, Catalonia, Spain (d. 1926)
1897 Basil Radford, Actor (The Lady Vanishes, Whiskey Galore, Night Train), born Chester (d. 1952)
1900 Louis Mountbatten, British naval officer and statesman, Supreme Allied Commander and Last Viceroy of India (1947), born in Windsor, (d. 1979)
1903 George Orwell [Eric Arthur Blair], Author (Animal Farm/1984), born Motihari, British India (d.1950)
1906 Roger Livesey, Welsh actor (Drums, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp), born Barry, (d.1976)
1913 Cyril Fletcher, British comedian, born in Watford, Hertfordshire, (d. 2005)
1916 Philip Toynbee, British journalist and writer (Savage Days, Barricade), born in Oxford,(d. 1981)
1921 Peter Wishart, English composer, born in Crowborough, England (d. 1984)
1923 Tony Parker, British oral historian, born in Stockport, Cheshire (d. 1996)
1923 Nicholas Mosley, British novelist, biographer and son of Oswald Mosley, born in London (d. 2017)
1932 Peter Blake, British artist, born in Dartford, Kent,
1940 Clint Warwick [Albert Eccles], English bassist (Moody Blues), born in Birmingham (d. 2004)
1940 A. J. Quinnell [Philip Nicholson], English writer (Man on Fire), born Nuneaton (d. 2005)
1941 Eddie Large [McGinnis], British comedian (Little and Large), born in Glasgow (d. 2020)
1943 Bill Moggridge [William], British designer (1st laptop computer), born in London (d. 2012)
1943 Chris Huston, British-born recording engineer and guitarist, born in North Wales
1946 Ian McDonald, English rock musician (saxophone, keyboards, guitar) (King Crimson, Foreigner), born in Osterly, Middlesex
1961 Ricky Gervais, English actor and comedian (The Office), born in Reading
1962 Phill Jupitus, English comedian and broadcaster, born in Newport, Isle of Wight
1963 George Michael [Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou], English singer-songwriter and pop superstar (Wham!, I Want Your Sex), born in London, (d. 2016)
1970 Lucy Benjamin, British actress (EastEnders), born in Reading, Berkshire
1971 Scott Maslen, English actor (EastEnders), born in London
1971 Neil Lennon, Northern Irish footballer, born in Lurgan, Northern Ireland
1973 Jamie Redknapp, English footballer and sports columnist, born in Barton on Sea, England
1978 Layla El, English dancer, model and 2006 WWE Diva Search winner, born in London
1981 Sheridan Smith, British actress (Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps), born in Epworth, Lincolnshire,
1993 Barney Clark, English actor (Oliver Twist), born in Hackney, London
On This day in British History
1658 Spanish garrison at Dunkirk surrenders to French and English
1894 Boer leader Paul Kruger meets British High Commissioner, Sir Henry Loch, on Pretoria station in South Africa and accompanies him to his hotel to discuss the grievances of the Uitlanders (Foreigners)
1942 British RAF stages a 1,000 bomb raid on Bremen, Germany (WWII)
1942 British premier Winston Churchill travels from US to London
1944 British assault at Caen, Normandy
1960 Somaliland is granted independence by British government
2007 Flooding in parts of Lincolnshire and Yorkshire in the United Kingdom including Louth, Horncastle and worst affected, Hull
Deaths in History
1483 Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers, English noble and writer (translated Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers, possibly 1st book printed in English), beheaded on orders of future Richard III (b. c. 1440)
1634 John Marston, English poet and playwright (b. 1576)
1798 Thomas Sandby, English architect (Royal Academy's 1st professor of Architecture) dies (b. 1721)
1897 Margaret Oliphant, Scottish novelist and biographer (Beleaguered City), dies at 69
1912 Lawrence Alma Tadema, Dutch-British painter, dies at 76
1971 John Boyd Orr, Scottish physician, Nobel laureate (b. 1880)
1977 Olave Baden-Powell, English founder of the Girl Guides, dies at 88
1992 James Stirling, Scottish architect (Neue Staatsgalerie, 1981 Pritzker Prize), dies at 66
1996 Sir Arthur Snelling, British Ambassador (b. 1914)
2017 Gordon Wilson, Scottish politician (Leader of the Scottish National Party), dies at 79