Today is Laos National Day. This day marks the establishment of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic in 1975.
By the twentieth century, Lao had become a French protectorate. Following the end of World War II, resistance to French control grew and the Pathet Lao resistance organization was formed by the Indochinese Communist Party. The armed struggle against occupation was known as the First Indochina War, and it resulted in Lao gaining independence as a constitutional monarchy under King Sisavang Phoulivong in October 1953.
The opposing views of the Pathet La and the royalist forces led to a long civil war in Lao. In 1975, with the support of North Vietnam and the Soviet Union, the Pathet Lao gained the upper hand in the conflict, and on December 2nd 1975, they overthrew the royalist Lao government and forced King Savang Vatthana to abdicate. On the same day, the Pathet Lao government under Kaysone Phomvihane renamed the country as the Lao People’s Democratic Republic.
The last supper…
Columbia Record Club…
Nostalgia
Today is the birthday, in 1944, of American musician, singer, and songwriter Dennis Wilson who co-founded The Beach Boys. He is best remembered as their drummer and as the middle brother of bandmates Brian and Carl Wilson. (1966 UK & US No.1 single ‘Good Vibrations’, plus over 25 other UK Top 40 singles). Wilson drowned while swimming from his boat moored in Marina Del Rey, California on 28th December 1983 after a heavy day’s drinking. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcrbDYe4qL4
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