Today is Liberation Day, a public holiday in San Marino. Its full title is the “Anniversary of the Liberation of the Republic from Alberonian occupation (1740) and the Feast of St. Agata, patron saint, along with San Marino”.
San Marino has been invaded only a few times. The first incursion came in 1503 when Cesare Borgia, known as Valentino, invaded. His plans to rule were thwarted by his death in 1507, restoring San Marino to its independent status.
Over 200 years later, it was time for an Italian cardinal called Giulio Alberoni to step up to the plate and try to subjugate San Marino. Trying to expand the Papal State’s power base in the region, Alberoni (at the ripe old age of 75) invaded San Marino on October 17th 1739.
Unhappy with the aggressive way he was ruling the country and the whole invasion thing, the people of San Marino protested against Alberoni’s occupation and appealed to the Vatican. Messages were sent to obtain justice from Pope Clemente XII. The Pope recognized the rights of San Marino and on February 5th 1740, he restored the country’s independence.
On this day in 1974, Patty Hearst, the 19-year-old granddaughter of newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst, was kidnapped from her apartment in Berkeley, California, by three armed strangers. Witnesses reported seeing a struggling Hearst being carried away blindfolded, and she was put in the trunk of a car. Neighbors who came out into the street were forced to take cover after the kidnappers fired their guns to cover their escape.
Three days later, the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), a small U.S. leftist group, announced in a letter to a Berkeley radio station that it was holding Hearst as a “prisoner of war.” Four days later, the SLA demanded that the Hearst family give $70 in foodstuffs to every needy person from Santa Rosa to Los Angeles. This done, said the SLA, negotiation would begin for the return of Patricia Hearst. Randolph Hearst hesitantly gave away some $2 million worth of food. The SLA then called this inadequate and asked for $6 million more. The Hearst Corporation said it would donate the additional sum if Patty was released unharmed.
In April, however, the situation changed dramatically when a surveillance camera took a photo of Hearst participating in an armed robbery of a San Francisco bank, and she was also spotted during a robbery of a Los Angeles store. She later declared, in a tape sent to the authorities, that she had joined the SLA of her own free will.
Finally, on September 18, 1975, after crisscrossing the country with her captors—or conspirators—for more than a year, Hearst, or “Tania” as she called herself, was captured in a San Francisco apartment and arrested for armed robbery. Despite her claim that she had been brainwashed by the SLA, she was convicted on March 20, 1976, and sentenced to seven years in prison. She served 21 months before her sentence was commuted by President Carter.
Butterhenge
SSIIGGGNNNZZZZZ
Today is the birthday, in 1947, of Margie and Mary Ann Ganser, vocalists for The Shangri-Las, who had a 1964 US No.1 & UK No.11 single with ‘Leader Of The Pack’. Mary Ann died in New York on March 15, 1970, aged 22, of a drug overdose. Margie died of breast cancer on July 28th 1996 age 48. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5YxtweUxrA
St. Brigid’s Day (Gaelic: Lá Fhéile Bríde) is celebrated on February 1st but the public holiday in Ireland takes place on the first Monday in February each year.
St. Brigid is one of the three Patron Saints of Ireland, the other two are St. Columba and of course, St.Patrick. Brigid is a Catholic and Orthodox saint. She was a pupil of St. Patrick and became famous for her kindness, mercy, and her miracles. In addition, Brigid founded Ireland’s most famous mixed (male and female) monastery in County Kildare.
In The Life of Brigid, her biographer, Cogitosus, recorded that Brigid formed an alliance with the hermit Conleth and, together, they created a double monastery from the Early Christian tradition. She was abbess and he was bishop. Within 100 years of her death, there was a thriving, egalitarian monastery of men and women, living and practicing their spirituality equally, side by side.
When Brigid was refused by the King of Leinster the land to build a convent, she asked if she could have as much land as her cloak would cover. The King allowed this, but was surprised to see Brigid’s cloak grow and grow, as four of her friends took a corner each and walked pulled the cloak to cover many acres. The King then granted St. Brigid the land, and any other supplies she required, before converting to Christianity soon after.
At the same time, the legends about Saint Brigid echo the myths and legends about the three-faced Celtic fertility goddess Brigid – the goddess of war, poetry, crafts, and healing. It is worth noting that before the arrival of Christianity in Ireland, the feast of the goddess Brigid was also celebrated on February 1st, the first day of Spring in the Celtic calendar.
Brigid’s cross is typically woven on February 1st, her feast day, as well as the festival of Imbolc in pre-Christian Ireland. Hanging Brigid’s cross from the rafters of a house was believed to bring the blessing and protection of the saint for the remainder of the year.
The healthy people among us…
Hot peppers…
Today is the birthday, in 1947, of American singer-songwriter Melanie Safka. She scored the 1971 US No.1 & 1972 UK No.4 single ‘Brand New Key’, and had hits with her 1970 version of the Rolling Stones’ ‘Ruby Tuesday’, her composition ‘What Have They Done to My Song Ma’ and her 1970 international breakthrough hit ‘Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)’, which was inspired by her experience of performing at the 1969 Woodstock Festival. In 2007, Melanie was invited by Jarvis Cocker to perform at the Meltdown Festival at the Royal Festival Hall in London. She died on 23 January 2024, at the age of 76. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCTMTflcuug
On this day in 1865, the House passed the 13th Amendment to the Constitution abolishing slavery in America. The amendment read, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude…shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” The amendment passed 119 to 56, just barely above the necessary two-thirds majority. The amendment was ratified by the requisite number of states due to pressure on some of the ‘reconstructed’ states since the amendment had been rejected by New Jersey, Delaware, Kentucky and Mississippi.
The amendment contained a crucial exception: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”
After the end of the Civil War, Many southern states created ‘black codes’ through creation of new types of offenses, especially attitudinal offenses—not showing proper respect, those types of things. New offenses like “malicious mischief” were vague, and could be a felony or misdemeanor depending on the supposed severity of behavior. These laws sent more Black people to prison than ever before, and by the late 19th century the country experienced its first “prison boom.”
States put prisoners to work through a practice called “convict-leasing,” whereby white planters and industrialists “leased” prisoners to work for them. States and private businesses made money doing this, but prisoners didn’t. This meant many Black prisoners found themselves living and working on plantations against their will and for no pay decades after the Civil War.
Like chattel slavery before it, convict-leasing was brutal and inhumane. Across the country, tens of thousands of people, overwhelmingly Black, were leased by the state to plantation owners, privately owned railroad yards, coal mines and road-building chain gangs and made to work under the whip from dawn till dusk—often as punishment for petty crimes such as vagrancy or theft.
Something wrong here…
Uh Oh!!!!
Today is the birthday, in 1954, of Adrian Vandenburg, Dutch guitarist who was a member of Whitesnake who had the 1987 US No.1 & UK No.9 single ‘Here I Go Again’. Also a member of Manic Eden. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyF8RHM1OCg
[Note: some technical issues today, hope to have everything fixed tomorrow]
On this day in 1933, President Paul von Hindeburg appointed Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of Germany. Hitler had gained popular support by attacking the Treaty of Versailles (which ended World War I), and promoting pan-Germanism and antisemitism. He attributed economic problems in Germany to an international Jewish conspiracy.
Shortly thereafter, the Reichstag passed the Enabling Act which gave the German Cabinet – most importantly, the Chancellor – the power to make and enforce laws without the involvement of the Reichstag or President Paul von Hindenburg, leading to the rise of Nazi Germany. Critically, the Enabling Act allowed the Chancellor to bypass the system of checks and balances in the government.
With this power, Hitler adopted racist policies asserting the superiority of the putative ‘Aryan Race’ and sought to deport or kill German Jews. He also sought to annex additional territories from other countries, expanding Germany. These policies, along with the strengthening of the German armed forces led directly to World War II which was a disaster for the world and a disaster for Germany and its people.
Yup!
Yup again…
Remember these?
Who Could Forget This Finale? It Aired 41 Years Ago, And It Was Kind Of The End Of An Era
Today is the birthday, in 1941, of Joe Terranova, from American doo-wop and rock and roll vocal group Danny and the Juniors famous for their 1958 US No.1 & UK No.3 single ‘At The Hop’ and their follow-up single the anthemic ‘Rock and Roll Is Here to Stay’. He died on April 15, 2019, aged 78. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPV5FrydqDE
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