Crabs and Beer!

On this day in 1900, the United Kingdom proclaimed a protectorate over Tonga.

The Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about 750 km² (290 sq mi), scattered over 700,000 km² (270,000 sq mi) in the southern Pacific Ocean.

Tonga was first inhabited roughly 2,500 years ago by Polynesian settlers who gradually evolved a distinct and strong ethnic identity, language, and culture as the Tongan people. They quickly established a powerful footing across the South Pacific, and this period of Tongan expansionism and colonization is known as the Tuʻi Tonga Empire. From the rule of the first Tongan king, ʻAhoʻeitu, Tonga grew into a regional power. It was a thalassocracy that conquered and controlled unprecedented swathes of the Pacific, from parts of the Solomon Islands and the whole of New Caledonia and Fiji in the west to Samoa and Niue and even as far as parts of modern-day French Polynesia in the east.

n 1845, an ambitious young Tongan warrior, strategist, and orator named Tāufaʻāhau united Tonga into a kingdom. He held the chiefly title of Tuʻi Kanokupolu, but had been baptised by Methodist missionaries with the name Siaosi (“George”) in 1831. Tonga became a protected state under a Treaty of Friendship with Britain on 18 May 1900, when European settlers and rival Tongan chiefs unsuccessfully tried to oust the man who had succeeded Tāufaʻāhau as king. The treaty posted no higher permanent representative on Tonga than a British consul (1901–1970). Under British protection, Tonga maintained its sovereignty and remained the only Pacific nation to retain its monarchical government. The Tongan monarchy has an uninterrupted succession of hereditary rulers from a single family.

The Treaty of Friendship and Tonga’s protection status ended in 1970 under arrangements that had been established by Tonga’s Queen Salote Tupou III before her death in 1965. Owing to its British ties, Tonga joined the Commonwealth in 1970 (atypically as a country that had its own monarch, rather than having the United Kingdom’s monarch, along with Malaysia, Brunei, Lesotho, and Eswatini). While exposed to colonial pressures, Tonga has always governed itself, which makes it unique in the Pacific.

Tāufaʻāhau, King of Tonga (1845–1893)

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Daily Affirmation…

Bulgaria wins Eurovision 2026! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EltgrumKJfk

On this day in 1536, Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, stands trial in London on charges of treason, adultery and incest; she is condemned to death by a specially-selected jury. She was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the second wife of King Henry VIII. The circumstances of her marriage and execution, by beheading for treason, made her a key figure in the political and religious upheaval that marked the start of the English Reformation.

Anne was maid of honour to Henry VIII’s wife, Catherine of Aragon. Early in 1523, Anne was secretly betrothed to Henry Percy, son of Henry Percy, 5th Earl of Northumberland, but the betrothal was broken off when the Earl refused to support it. Cardinal Thomas Wolsey refused the match in January 1524.

In February or March 1526, Henry VIII began his pursuit of Anne. She resisted his attempts to seduce her, refusing to become his mistress, as her sister Mary had previously been. Henry focused on annulling his marriage to Catherine, so he would be free to marry Anne. After Wolsey failed to obtain an annulment from Pope Clement VII, it became clear the marriage would not be annulled by the Catholic Church. As a result, Henry and his advisers, such as Thomas Cromwell, began breaking the Church’s power in England and closing the monasteries. Henry and Anne formally married on 25 January 1533, after a secret wedding on 14 November 1532.

Anne was crowned queen on 1 June 1533. On 7 September, she gave birth to the future Queen Elizabeth I. Henry was disappointed to have a daughter, but hoped a son would follow and professed to love Elizabeth. Anne subsequently had three miscarriages and by March 1536, Henry was courting Jane Seymour.

Henry had Anne investigated for high treason in April 1536. On 2 May, she was arrested and sent to the Tower of London, where she was put on trial before a jury, including Henry Percy, her former betrothed, and her uncle Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk. She was convicted on 15 May and beheaded four days later.

King Henry and Anne Boleyn Deer shooting in Windsor Forest by William Powell Frith, 1903

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Today is the birthday, in 1943, of American songwriter, record producer, arranger, and orchestra conductor Freddie Perren. He co-wrote and co-produced songs including ‘Boogie Fever’ by the Sylvers, I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor, and ‘Shake Your Groove Thing’ by Peaches & Herb. He died on December 16, 2004. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dYWe1c3OyU

On this day in 1879, the first group of 473 indentured laborers arrived in Fiji from Calcutta aboard the Leonidas. The indentured labourers who disembarked were the first of over 61,000 to arrive from the Indian subcontinent over the following 37 years, forming the nucleus of the Fiji Indian community that now numbers close to forty per cent of Fiji’s population.

The Indian indenture system was a system of indentured servitude, by which more than 1.6 million workers from India were transported to labour in various overseas European colonies, beginning shortly after the abolition of slavery in the early 19th century. The system began with the Atlas voyage to Mauritius in 1834, but early journeys were marked by mortality rates of over 17%, prompting British authorities to impose stricter shipping regulations. The system expanded after the abolition of slavery in the British Empire in 1833, in the French colonies in 1848, and in the Dutch Empire in 1863. British Indian indentureship lasted until the 1920s. This resulted in the development of a large Indian diaspora in the Caribbean,^[6] Natal (South Africa), Réunion, Mauritius, and Fiji, as well as the growth of Indo-South African, Indo-Caribbean, Indo-Mauritian and Indo-Fijian populations.

Indian indentured workers at a Sugar mill.

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GROWING UP IS HARD…

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Today is the birthday, in 1946, of Derek Leckenby, guitarist with English beat rock band, Herman’s Hermits who scored the 1964 UK No.1 single ‘I’m Into Something Good’ (cover of Earl-Jean’s) and the 1965 US No.1 single ‘Mrs Brown You’ve Got A Lovely Daughter’. He died on 4th June 1994 aged 51. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0J6q42zLH0

On this day in 1862, Robert Smalls, a slave in South Carolina, commandeered a Confederate transport ship in Charleston Harbor and sailed it from the Confederate-controlled waters of the harbor to the U.S. blockade that surrounded it. He then piloted the ship to the Union-controlled enclave in Beaufort–Port Royal–Hilton Head area, where it became a Union warship. In the process, he freed himself, his crew, and their families. His example and persuasion helped convince President Abraham Lincoln to accept African-American soldiers into the Union Army.

When he was 12, at the request of his mother, Smalls’s master sent him to Charleston to hire out as a laborer. Smalls worked as a longshoreman, rigger and sailmaker, and he eventually worked his way up to become a wheelman, more or less a helmsman, though enslaved people were not permitted that title. As a result, he was very knowledgeable about Charleston Harbor.

In the fall of 1861, Smalls was assigned to steer the CSS Planter, a lightly armed Confederate military transport. Planter‘s duties were to survey waterways, lay mines, and deliver dispatches, troops and supplies. Smalls piloted the Planter throughout Charleston harbor and beyond, on area rivers and along the South Carolina, Georgia and Florida coasts. From Charleston harbor, Smalls and the Planter‘s crew could see the line of federal blockade ships in the outer harbor, seven miles away. Smalls appeared content and had the confidence of the Planter‘s crew and owners, but, at some time in April 1862, he began to plan an escape. He discussed the matter with all of the other enslaved people in the crew except one, whom he did not trust.

On the evening of May 12, the Planter was docked as usual at the wharf below General Ripley’s headquarters. Its three white officers disembarked to spend the night ashore, leaving Smalls and the crew on board, “as was their custom.” Smalls asked Captain Relyea if the crew’s families could visit, which was occasionally allowed, and he approved on condition that they depart before curfew. When the families arrived, the men revealed the plan to them.

At some point, three crew members pretended to escort the family members back home, but they circled around and hid aboard another steamer^[c] docked at the North Atlantic wharf. At about 3:00 a.m. on May 13,^[16] Smalls and seven of the eight enslaved crewmen made their previously planned escape to the Union blockade ships. Smalls put on the captain’s uniform and wore a straw hat similar to the captain’s.^[1] He sailed the Planter past what was then called Southern Wharf and stopped at another wharf to pick up his wife and children and the families of other crewmen.

Smalls guided the ship past the five Confederate harbor forts without incident, as he gave the correct steam-whistle signals at checkpoints. The alarm was only raised after the ship was beyond gun range, for, rather than turn east towards Morris Island, Smalls had headed straight for the Union Navy fleet, replacing the rebel flags with a white bed sheet that had been brought by his wife. The Planter had been seen by the USS Onward, which was about to fire until a crewman spotted the white flag. In the dark, the sheet was difficult to see, but the sunrise arrived which allowed viewing.

The Onward‘s captain, John Frederick Nickels, boarded the Planter, and Smalls asked for a United States flag to display. He surrendered the Planter and its cargo to the United States Navy. Smalls’s escape plan had succeeded. Smalls, having just turned 23, quickly became known in the North as a hero for his daring exploit. Newspapers and magazines reported his actions.

After the Civil War, Smalls returned to Beaufort and became a politician, winning election as a Republican to the South Carolina Legislature and the United States House of Representatives during the Reconstruction era. He authored state legislation providing for South Carolina to have the first free and compulsory public school system in the United States.

Portrait by Mathew Brady

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Bad way to start the day…

Today is the birthday, in 1950, of American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist Stevie Wonder. A child prodigy who developed into one of the most creative musical figures of the late 20th century. Wonder who has been blind from shortly after birth, signed with Motown’s Tamla label at the age of eleven and continues to perform and record for Motown to this day. Wonder has scored over 40 US & UK Top 40 singles. Albums include Talking Book, Innervisions and Songs in the Key of Life. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUj9frKY46E

Today is the birthday, in 1777, of Mary Reibey. She was an English-born merchant, shipowner and trader who was transported to Australia as a convict. After gaining her freedom, she was viewed by her contemporaries as a community role model and became legendary as a successful businesswoman in the colony.

Reibey, baptized Molly Haydock, was born on 12 May 1777 in Bury, Lancashire, England. Following the death of her parents, she was reared by her grandmother and sent into service. She ran away and was arrested for stealing a horse in August 1791. At the time, she was disguised as a boy and was going under the name of James Burrow. Sentenced to seven years’ transportation, she arrived in Sydney, Australia, on the Royal Admiral in October 1792.

On 7 September 1794, 17-year-old Mary married Thomas Reibey, after he had proposed to her several times; she finally agreed to marry the junior officer on the store ship Britannia. Thomas Reibey was granted land on the Hawkesbury River, where he and Mary lived and farmed following their marriage.

Thomas Reibey commenced a cargo business along the Hawkesbury River to Sydney and later moved to Sydney. Thomas Reibey’s business undertakings prospered and trading activities were extended to the Bass Strait, the Pacific Islands and, from 1809, to China and India.

When Thomas Reibey died on 5 April 1811, Mary assumed sole responsibility for the care of seven children and the control of numerous business enterprises. She was no stranger to this task, having managed her husband’s affairs during his frequent absences from Sydney. Now a woman of considerable wealth through her husband’s businesses, Reibey continued to expand her business interests. In 1812, she opened a new warehouse in George Street and, in 1817, extended her shipping operations with the purchase of further vessels. In the same year, the Bank of New South Wales was founded in her house in Macquarie Place.

In the emancipist Society of New South Wales, she gained respect for her charitable works and her interest in the church and education. She was one of the founding Governors of the Free Grammar School in 1825. On her retirement, she built a house at Newtown, Sydney, where she lived until her death on 30 May 1855 from pneumonia. She was 78 years old.

An enterprising and determined person of strong personality, during her lifetime, Reibey earned a reputation as an astute and successful businesswoman in the colony of New South Wales. She is featured on the obverse of Australian twenty-dollar notes printed since 1994 and on its replacement design since 2019.^[11] She was posthumously inducted onto the Victorian Honour Roll of Women in 2001.

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BADA BING!

An 11-year-old came up with a TV pitch that is stone cold genius: A reality show, in the vein of The Amazing Race, that follows a group of Flat Earthers trying to travel to the edge of the world.

Me: Do you shower after sex? Coworker: Yeah, of course I do. Me: Well, how about getting laid a little more often.

It makes sense if you don’t think about it.

I’m not saying you are the dumbest person in the world, just hope that other guy doesn’t die.

Any dog can be a guide dog if you don’t care where you’re going.

Bilbo at the wine store… What wine goes well with watching too much TV and worrying about the end of democracy?

Dyslexics are teople poo.

Thanks Donald J. Trump. Under Joe Biden my truck could only hold around $75 in diesel. Now my truck holds $130 in fuel. Hurts my wallet a bit more but makes me feel better knowing my truck can take more fuel under your presidency.

I UNDERSTAND WHY MAGA THINKS TRUMP IS A GOD. EVERY TIME HE SHOWS UP ANOTHER PLAGUE HAPPENS.

Cop: Do you know why I stopped you? *Looks back at my trailer full of donkeys* Me: “Because I’m … hauling ass”

There are two types of Trump supporters: billionaires and dumbasses…check your bank account to see which one you are!

I’m not antisocial, I’m socially selective.

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Today’s news…

Bang A Gong! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF1qfLMczNo