It is a day for the island nation of Japan to show appreciation for the seas and oceans.
Also known as Ocean Day, Sea Day or ‘Umi no hi’, Marine Day only became a nationally recognized holiday in Japan in 1996.
Marine Memorial Day was established in 1941 to mark the anniversary of the 1876 return of the Meiji Emperor to the Port of Yokohama, on the two-masted topsail schooner Meiji-Maru, from a tour of the Tohoku and Hokkaido regions, in the northeast of the country.
The day was also established as a holiday to express gratitude for the gifts of the sea, honor its importance, and pray for the prosperity of Japan as a maritime nation.
The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Hokusai
I hope everyone celebrated Bastille Day yesterday
Must be Monday…
Today is the birthday, in 1946, of American singer Linda Ronstadt who had the 1975 US No.1 single ‘You’re No Good’, and the 1989 UK No.2 single with Aaron Neville, ‘Don’t Know Much’ plus over 15 other US Top 40 hits. She has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three American Music Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, and an ALMA Award. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsEwBzfdMnk
Today is a part of the Naadam Festival in Mongolia. The Naadam Festival is a celebrated in Mongolia with public holidays from July 11th – 15th each year. This is the largest and most popular holiday in Mongolia. The first day of the festival takes place on Revolution Day, Mongolia’s National Day, which commemorates independence from China on July 11th 1921.
The festival originated in the 12th century as a way for Mongolians to demonstrate their military prowess. From the 17th century, Naadam contests were held during religious holidays. Since 1922, they have been held on Revolution Day, the anniversary of the People’s Revolution.
The main Naadam festival takes place in the country’s capital Ulaanbaatar and opens with a cultural performance with ethnic dancing and music before the games get underway. Everyone, young and old are encouraged to participate in the games.
Wrestling is usually the first sport. The main wrestling event is a knockout competition involving 512 or 1,024 participants. The participants are all men and have to enter the ring bare-chested as legend has it that a woman once infiltrated the games beating the men, so now all the wrestlers have to show they are male before the grappling begins.
Unlike international wrestling events, there are no weight classes and the rules are also simpler – if a wrestler touches the ground with any part of their body apart from their feet and arms, they lose.
The second sport is Archery. From the time of Ghengis Khan, Mongolian archers were famed for their skill and precision with a bow. At its time, the recurved Mongol bow was a weapon without compare on the Eurasian battlefields of the steppe and deep into Western Europe. The games consist of three categories of archery – Buriat, Khakh and Uriankhai – which have differing bows, arrows and distances.
The third sport is horseback riding. Mastery of horse-riding was key to the Mongol domination of the steppe. The nomadic life of the Mongols developed their skills as expert hunters with the horse and bow, which made them formidable opponents. They developed stirrups, which enabled Mongol horsemen to ride without reins, leaving the hands free for combat.
Olympics starting soon, with new events…
Today is the birthday, in 1943, of Christine McVie, keyboards, vocals, Chicken Shack, and then Fleetwood Mac, who scored the US No.1 single ‘Dreams’ taken from their worldwide No.1 album Rumours which spent 31 weeks on the US chart. Eight of her songs appeared on Fleetwood Mac’s 1988 Greatest Hits album. McVie died at 79, following a brief illness, on November 30, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3ywicffOj4
Today is the Celebration of the Golden Spurs. This holiday is always celebrated on July 11th. It marks a significant victory by the Flemish over the French in a battle in 1302.
The day is commemorated with a grand festival at the Grand Palace and the Place de la Monnaie in Brussels. There’s live music, guided tours, and events for children to mark a battle that took place in 1302.
In 1302 the French king Philip IV of France dispatched an army to punish the rebellious Flemish towns, led by Bruges.
Earlier that year Philip IV had annexed Flanders. The Flemish rebelled and attacked the French governor of Flanders.
The French army was composed of about 8,000 knights and infantry. The Flemish army consisted of a militia force of 9,000 infantrymen.
The two forces clashed on July 11th 1302 on a field just outside the Flemish city of Kortrijk. The French were totally defeated.
The commander of the French army, Robert II of Arlois was surrounded and killed on the battlefield. At least a thousand French knights were killed in the battle and number of the golden spurs collected from the field was so large as to give the battle its name. The spurs were donated as a gratitude offering to the Church of Our Lady in Kortrijk.
In the 19th century, the battle was romanticized by Flemish writer Hendrik Conscience in his book The Lion of Flanders and the Battle of the Golden Spurs became a symbol of the struggle for Flemish recognition in the French-dominated Belgian State.
This could be a hard one…
Mostly in men…
Today is the birthday, in 1951, of Bonnie Pointer, singer with American R&B singing group The Pointer Sisters who had the 1981 US No.2 single, ‘Slow Hand’ and the 1984 UK No.2 single ‘Automatic’. The Pointer Sisters have won three Grammy Awards and had 13 US top 20 hits between 1973 and 1985. She died on 8 June 2020 from a cardiac arrest aged 69. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyTVyCp7xrw
Today is the anniversary of the First Sermon of the Lord Buddha (Formally known as Drukpa Tshe Zhi), a public holiday in Bhutan. After achieving enlightenment, Buddha gave his first sermon in the Deer Park in Isipatana, India and founded the Buddhist sangha (monkhood) about 2,500 years ago.
In the sermon, which is known as ‘Setting the Wheel of Dharma in Motion’, the Buddha first spelt out the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path.
In His First Sermon, the Buddha said, “I teach one thing and one thing only: suffering and the end of suffering,” which is the ultimate goal of Buddhism. The Buddha presented and explained this very doctrine in his major discourses. In this First Sermon at Deer Park, He taught the Four Noble Truths: the existence of suffering, the cause of suffering, that the cause of suffering can end, and the path to the end of suffering.
“Avoiding extremes, the Buddha has realized the Middle Path: It gives vision, it gives knowledge, and it leads to calm, to insight, to enlightenment, to Nirvana. And what is that Middle Path? It is simply the Noble Eightfold Path, namely, right view, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. This is the Middle Path realized by the Buddha, which gives vision, which gives knowledge, and which leads to calm, to insight, to enlightenment, and to Nirvana.”
Today is Independence Day (Día de la Independencia) in Argentina. This national public holiday marks Argentina’s independence from Spain which was declared on 9 July 1816.
After European explorers arrived in the region in the early part of the sixteenth century, Spain quickly established a permanent colony on the site of modern-day Buenos Aires in 1580.
During the early part of its history, Argentina was largely a country of Spanish immigrants and their descendants (known as creoles). The population was split between those who lived in Buenos Aires and other cities, with others living on the pampas as gauchos.
Descendants of African slaves were also present in significant numbers. The Indigenous peoples of the region inhabited much of the rest of Argentina.
In 1806 and 1807 the British Empire launched two invasions of Buenos Aires but were repelled on both occasions by the Creole population. This ability to lead a military campaign against foreign forces bolstered the idea that they could win a war for independence.
On 28 May 1810, when rumors about the overthrow of King Ferdinand VII by Napoleon proved to be true, the citizens of Buenos Aires took advantage of the situation and created their First Government Junta. Six years later, delegates from the United Provinces of South America declared themselves independent from Spain on 9 July 1816.
Alaskan Restaurant…
Bada Bing!!
Due to personal reasons, I am going to continue posting jokes instead of seeking professional help.
“Being better than Trump cannot be the standard because Donald Trump is the absence of standards.”
If I walk into your business, and I hear Fox News, I’m walking right back out.
The library moved Orwell’s 1984 to nonfiction.
I just came across my husband’s Tinder profile, and I am so angry about his lies. He is not “fun to be around!”
I always get so frustrated when I put clothes away in my closet. I think I have hanger management issues.
I never finish anything. I have a black belt in Partial Arts.
I asked everyone what IDK stands for and nobody knows.
On this day in 1983, The Police started an eight week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Every Breath You Take’ also No.1 in the UK. Taken from the bands album Synchronicity, Sting won Song of the Year and The Police won Best Pop Performance for the song at the 1984 Grammy Awards. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMOGaugKpzs
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