The Supremes

Today is Independence Day in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This day is the National Day of DR Congo and marks independence from Belgium in June 1960.

As the various European powers vied for control of the African continent in the late 19th century, the Congo region came under the gaze of King Leopold II of Belgium. Leopold personally acquired the ‘rights’ to the Congo territory at the Conference of Berlin in 1885 and named the land the Congo Free State.

After years of abuse of the local population, the Belgian parliament took control of the free state in 1908, creating the Belgian Congo. The Belgian Congo gained its independence from Belgium on June 30th 1960 as the Republic of Congo.

Belgium had made no effort to train or educate Congolese and, as a result, at independence the government was primarily composed of Belgian nationals. The first prime minister of the newly independent Congo was Patrice Lumumba who pushed for the Africanization of the government, even at some expense of efficiency, to make the country truly independent. Under Belgian leadership, a mutiny broke out in the army. Lumumba appealed to both Belgium and the United States for support to suppress the Katangan secessionists but both refused. He then turned to the Soviet Union for support. In response the CIA and the Belgian and UK secret services plotted to assassinate him and he was murdered in the presence of Belgian officials and his body destroyed.

In 2002, Belgium formally apologised for its role in the execution. In 2022, a gold-capped tooth, all that remained of his body, was repatriated to the Democratic Republic of the Congo by Belgium.

ENJOY THE HEAT!

Today is the birthday, in 1943, of American vocalist Florence Ballard, The Supremes (1964 US & UK No.1 single ‘Baby Love’ plus 11 other US No.1 singles). Ballard sang on 16 top forty singles with the group, including ten No.1 hits. She died February 21st 1976. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aax5EDQMOq4

Today is Ochi Day in Greece and Cyprus, a public holiday. The day commemorates Greece’s refusal to yield to Axis demands for surrender in 1940.

At 3am on October 28th 1940, an ultimatum from Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini was handed to former military general and Prime Minister of Greece, Ioannis Metaxas at his home in Kifissia by the Italian Ambassador of Athens, Emanuele Grazzi. The ultimatum required the free passage of the Italian army through the Greek-Albanian border, signalling the Italian occupation of some strategic areas of Greece.

After reading the letter, Metaxas turned to the Italian Ambassador and famously responded “Ochi!” – “No!” in Greek. That “No!” brought Greece into the second world war on the side of the Allies. Indeed, for a period, Greece was Britain’s only ally against Hitler.

Ready for Trick or Treaters…

BOOK DEDICATIONS

On this day in 1967, Diana Ross and the Supremes Greatest Hits started a five-week run at No.1 on the US album chart. Although original member Florence Ballard is pictured on the cover and sings on all the tracks, by the time the LP was released, she had been fired from the group and replaced by Cindy Birdsong.

If they want to borrow your pen

I was sad to read about the death, earlier this week, of Mary Wilson, one of the original members of the Supremes. The group had five consecutive number one hits in 1964 and 1965 including this:

and this