Culture Club

Today is King Charles’ Birthday. Now those of you who pay attention will know that King Charles was actually born on 14 November, 1948. However, now that he has taken the throne he receives the privilege of celebrating his birthday not once, but twice every year.

It was the same with Queen Elizabeth. Queen’s Birthday was celebrated in June each year, even though the Queen’s birthday was on April 21st.

The idea behind the double birthday is that having a summer birthday means a higher chance of good weather during the Trooping the Color parade, which marks the official celebration of the monarch’s birthday in the UK. Trooping the Color is held outside Buckingham Palace on a Saturday in early June and has marked the celebration for over 270 years.

The King is the monarch of 15 countries, the United Kingdom and 14 commonwealth realms.

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OOPS!!

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Today is the birthday, in 1961, of George O’Dowd, (Boy George), English singer, songwriter, DJ, fashion designer and photographer. As lead singer of the Grammy and Brit Award winning Culture Club, he scored the 1983 UK No.1 & 1984 US No.1 single ‘Karma Chameleon’ and global hits ‘Do You Really Want To Hurt Me’, and ‘Time’ (Clock of the Heart). As a solo artists George had the 1987 UK No.1 single ‘Everything I Own’. He became a coach on The Voice UK in 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmcA9LIIXWw

Today is Gibraltar National Day. The day commemorates the referendum of 1967, in which the citizens of Gibraltar overwhelmingly voted to remain under British sovereignty.

Coveted since antiquity for its strategic position at the entrance to the Mediterranean from the Atlantic, the ‘Rock’ passed through Phoenician, Carthaginian, Roman and Visigoth hands. It was occupied by the Moors in 711AD. It gets its name from the Spanish version of an Arabic name given to the area during the conquest. It came under Spanish control in 1462 as the Moors were driven out of Spain.

In 1704, Anglo-Dutch forces captured Gibraltar from Spain during the War of the Spanish Succession on behalf of the Habsburg claim to the Spanish throne. The territory was ceded to Great Britain in perpetuity under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. It gained its current status as a British Overseas Territory in 2002.

Since it fell under British control, Spain has continued to push its territorial claims over Gibraltar. To respond to the Spanish claims, a sovereignty referendum was held on September 10th 1967, in which voters were asked whether they wished to either pass under Spanish sovereignty or remain under British sovereignty, with institutions of self-government. The voter turnout was 100% with 99.64% voting to remain under British sovereignty.

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who needs fences??

sinking of the Titanic

fallout from the writers’ strike

Signs…

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Today is the birthday, in 1957, of Jon Moss, drums, Culture Club, (1983 UK No.1 & 1984 US No.1 single ‘Karma Chameleon’ plus seven other UK top 10 singles). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmcA9LIIXWw

Today is Spiritual Baptist Day, a public holiday in Trinidad and Tobago. Spiritual Baptist Day may also be known as Shouter Baptist Liberation Day and marks the 1951 repeal of the prohibition on practicing the religion. Spiritual Baptist is a religion that developed from similar faiths in several Caribbean countries. It combines elements of Protestant Christianity with African customs and rituals. The Baptist faith in Trinidad is a legacy of the Merikin community. The ‘Merikins’ were African-American refugees of the War of 1812 – freed slaves who fought for the British against the Americans during the war of 1812.

I didn’t find any fun birthdays today so here’s Culture Club.