Today is Peat Cutting Monday, a public holiday in the Falkland Islands. Peat Cutting Day was the time of year when Falkland Islanders went out to cut cubes of surface-soil peat which was then used as the primary fuel for heating homes and cooking food in the islands.
Peat is found in pockets all around the Falklands with large deposits in the area around Stanley. Without such a handy supply of fuel, settlement of the Islands would have been unlikely. The use of peat continued for many years though today has been replaced by kerosene or diesel in most households.
The smell of peat burning is very nostalgic and remains in the air at some places around Stanley and elsewhere. As the need for peat cutting has diminished, Islanders instead use the day to go fishing and camping.
Too late for flowers…
Homwork
Time for Dog Spider Costumes!
Saturday was the anniversary of the death of French composer Jacques Offenbach in 1880. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas and for his comic opera, Orpheus in the Underworld. In the last decade of the 19th century the Paris cabarets the Moulin Rouge and Folies Bergère adopted the music of the “Galop infernal” from the culminating scene of the opera to accompany the can-can, and ever since then the tune has been popularly associated with the dance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CU0IyxvcH4E
Today is Independence Day, a public holiday in Lesotho observed on October 4th. This is Lesotho’s National Day and marks independence from Britain on this day in 1966.
Lesotho emerged in the 1820s, when Basutoland was founded by King Moshoeshoe I who united the tribes in the area in order to defend themselves from attacks by the Zulus.
Basutoland then found itself in territorial disputes with the Boer trekkers from the Orange Free State. King Moshoeshoe turned to the British for help and Basutoland was made a British protectorate in 1868, before gaining colony status in 1884.
On October 4th 1966, Basutoland was formally granted its independence from Great Britain as the Kingdom of Lesotho, with Moshoeshoe II as king and Chief Leabua Jonathan (Basotho National Party) as prime minister.
Lesotho is quite mountainous and can be quite cold in winter months. The lowest point in Lesotho is 1,500 meters above sea level, making it the country with the highest low point in the world.
He’s a Soupervisor…
SIGNZZZ
On this day in 2022, American country music singer and songwriter Loretta Lynn died at the age of 90. She was the first woman to be named Country Music Artist Entertainer Of The Year. Since her first No.1 ‘Fist City’, in 1967 she has scored another 16 chart toppers. Lynn wrote more than 160 songs and released 60 albums and won three Grammy Awards. Her best-selling 1976 autobiography was made into an Academy Award-winning film, Coal Miner’s Daughter, starring Sissy Spacek and Tommy Lee Jones in 1980. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9eHp7JJgq8
Today is German Unity Day. This is Germany’s National Day and marks the reunification of Germany that took place on this day in 1990. It is the only official national holiday. All other holidays are managed at a federal level.
On November 9th 1989, the Berlin Wall fell, paving the way towards the reunification of Germany which had been split at the end of the second world war. Following the GDR’s first free elections on March 18th 1990, negotiations between the GDR and FRG culminated in a Unification Treaty.
The reunification of Germany took place on October 3rd 1990 when the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) was incorporated into the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). Further negotiations between the GDR and FRG and the four occupying powers produced the so-called “Two Plus Four Treaty” granting full sovereignty to a unified German state, whose two halves had previously been bound by a number of limitations as a result of its post-WWII-status as an occupied nation. The treaty was signed on September 20th 1990.
Today is the birthday, in 1941, of Chubby Checker, US singer, (Ernest Evans), 1960 US No.1 & UK No.14 single ‘The Twist’, 1962 UK No.2 single ‘Let’s Twist Again’). ‘The Twist’ is the only song to go to number 1 on the US singles charts twice. Once in 1960 and again in 1962.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDGprGUreOc
Today is Gandhi Jayanti, a national holiday celebrated across India to mark the birthday of the great Indian freedom fighter Mahatma Gandhi, known by many Indians as the “Father of the Nation”. It is one of three officially declared National Holidays of India and is observed in all its states and territories.
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on October 2nd 1869 in Gujarat, then known as Porbandar, British India.
Gandhi lived his life with acceptance and practice of truth, non-violence, vegetarianism, simplicity, and faith in God and was a major political and spiritual leader within India. He was a pioneer of Satyagraha, which believed in resistance to tyranny through mass civil disobedience, firmly founded upon total non-violence.
His honorific title of Mahatma, which means “high-souled” in Sanskrit, was first used in 1914 in South Africa.
The movement led India to independence and his efforts have since inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. He was a source of inspiration to many political leaders all over the world, including Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr.
Time for Trumpkins!!
Bada Bing!
When I’m bored, I call in sick to places I don’t even work.
Tupperware is filing for bankruptcy. They would have kept a lid on it but they couldn’t find one.
Got bored today. So I put a hazmat suit on and went around chalking a big red X on random people’s driveways.
I started jogging today. I didn’t want to but the ice cream truck didn’t stop.
Whenever I go running I meet new people. Like paramedics.
Me: I know what I saw! Friend: It’s called cauliflower, not ghost broccoli.
The reason grilled cheese and tomato soup go so well together is because they’re basically pizza split into two parts.
Turns out you can buy a birthday cake anytime and eat it yourself. Nobody checks!
I can always tell when they use fake dinosaurs in movies.
Me: Takes down a spider web with a broom. Then hang up a fake spider web for Halloween. Spider: Really?!
I am fed up with people saying “I don’t know enough about her”. It doesn’t matter. Because you know EVERYTHING you need to know about him.
New commandment: Thou shalt not use your religion to take other people’s rights away.
Old age is when it takes you longer to get over a good time than to have it!
NO!
Today is the birthday, in 1955, of Phil Oakey singer, songwriter with The Human League. Formed in Sheffield, England in 1977 the group attained widespread commercial success with their third album Dare in 1981. The album contained four hit singles, including the UK/US No.1 hit ‘Don’t You Want Me’. The Human League has sold more than 20 million records worldwide. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPudE8nDog0
Today is Teachers’ Day. A public holiday in Uzbekistan. This holiday is dedicated to honor the efforts of those who teach and educate in Uzbekistan.
Annually the Day of Teachers and Instructors is a surprisingly solemnly celebration in Uzbekistan. This is due to a tradition of deep respect for teachers that has been established in the territory over the centuries. In the 7th century the Chinese scientists and explorer, Suan Tsan, wrote that he saw five-year-old boys in Samarkand being taught how to read, write and count.
Today Uzbekistan ranks highly among the most developed countries, with an education index of 0.92, compared to the world average of 0.77. The education of children and youth remains one of the main priorities of the government. The education law was one of the first laws adopted in June 1992, after independence from the Soviet Union.
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