Blondie

Today is Sir Seretse Khama Day – a public holiday in Botwsana. This holiday commemorates the first President of Botswana on the anniversary of his birth on this day in 1921.

eretse Khama was born on July 1st 1921 at Serowe, the Protectorate of Bechuanaland (now Botswana).  Seretse Khama was the grandson and heir of King Khama III, who died in 1923. The Bangwato family of which Seretse Khama was the heir were hereditary rulers of the Protectorate. In 1925 Seretse Khama was made King, his uncle acting as regent.

Khama was training as a barrister in London after the Second World War, where he met and married Ruth Williams, a white English commoner. The story of Seretse Khama and Ruth Williams was depicted in the 2016 film, ‘A United Kingdom’. His marriage caused great difficulties for him at home and he was exiled in 1951. 

The apartheid government of South Africa put pressure on Britain to remove Khama’s chieftainship. A judicial inquiry declared him to be perfectly fit for the job, but this was hushed up to appease the South Africans.

Kahama returned to Bechuanaland in 1956 as a private citizen. Free to enter politics, he formed the Bechuanaland Democratic Party, won the elections and led the way to independence, becoming his country’s first President. He remained in the post until his death, aged only 59, in 1980. He created a multiracial democratic society and is considered as one of the great successes of this era of African politics.

Replaced the pole but kept woodpecker’s home

something wrong here…

Today is the birthday, in 1945, of Deborah Harry, American singer, songwriter, and actress with Blondie who scored five UK No.1 singles including the 1979 UK & US No.1 single ‘Heart Of Glass’ and the 1978 world-wide No.1 album Parallel Lines. As a solo artists she scored the 1986 UK No. 8 single ‘French Kissing In The USA’. A former Playboy Bunny, her acting career spans over thirty film roles and numerous television appearances. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGU_4-5RaxU

Today is Christmas Eve in Armenia, a public holiday. Each year, Armenians enjoy a series of holidays from January 1st to January 6th bridging the period between the New Year and Armenian Christmas.

Right at the start of the 4th century, Armenia was the first nation to adopt Christianity as a state religion. This meant the customs of festivals developed independently from the influence of Rome. One upshot of this was that Armenia chose the date of January 6th for the birth of Christ, rather than switching to the December 25th date later observed in most countries.

An Armenian Christmas Eve tradition is to eat fried fish, lettuce, and boiled spinach. The spinach is eaten in honor of the Virgin Mary, who, according to legend, had a meal of spinach on the evening before Jesus’ birth. While there is a recipe called ‘Spinach Mother Of Christ’ you won’t find the recipe in the Bible and some historians claim that there is no evidence for Spinach being part of the diet in that part of the world at that time, so we may be looking at some early form of marketing and branding by medieval spinach growers.

Just don’t

OOPS!!!

Today is the birthday, in 1950, of Chris Stein co-founder and guitarist of the new wave band Blondie. In 1973 Stein became the guitarist of the Stilettos and began a romantic relationship with Debbie Harry, one of the singers. Blondie scored five UK No.1 singles including the 1979 UK & US No.1 single ‘Heart Of Glass’ and the 1978 worldwide No.1 album Parallel Lines. Stein is also an accomplished photographer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGU_4-5RaxU

Today is New Year’s Eve in Sri Lanka. Called Aluth Avurudda in Sinhala and Puthandu in Tamil, New Year’s Day is a statutory holiday in Sri Lanka. Tamil New Year’s Day is celebrated on the first day of Chithirai – the first month in the Tamil Calendar and is also known as Varusha Pirappu. This is also Sinhalese New Year. Like Tamil New Year, it marks the end of the harvest and the arrival of spring as indicated by the sun moving from Meena Rashiya ( Pisces) to Mesha Rashiya (Aries). To mark the new year, everyone in the country celebrates by wearing light golden clothes and turning towards the east. It is a tradition that the first financial transaction of the year is when elders give gifts of money to the unmarried young, as a sign of good luck.

SIGNZ

Today is the birthday, in 1954 of merican musician Jimmy Destri, keyboardist with Blondie They scored five UK No.1 singles including the 1979 UK & US No.1 single ‘Heart Of Glass’ and the 1978 world-wide No.1 album Parallel Lines. He was one of the principal songwriters for the band along with Chris Stein and Deborah Harry. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGU_4-5RaxU

Today is Saint Pierre Chanel Day, a public holiday in the territory of the Wallis and Futuna Islands. Chanel was a French missionary who arrived in Futuna in 1837. Through his efforts many of the people of the islands were converted to Christianity including the King of Futuna’s son. The King sent his son-in-law to deal with the problem who killed Chanel on April 28th 1841.

Signzzzz

On this day in 1979, Blondie reached number one with Heart of Glass – the first of their four number one songs