This was in addition to the much longer December 1st calendar post: durhamspark.blogspot.com/2023/12/some-events-and-anniversaries-in-late.html and the shorter December 8th: durhamspark.blogspot.com/2023/12/additional-events-and-anniversaries-in.html , December 14th: durhamspark.blogspot.com/2023/12/more-events-and-anniversaries-in-early.html and December 31st posts: durhamspark.blogspot.com/2023/12/some-unac-and-adc-statements-and-.html I planned to post short calendars every few days or weekly in December 2023, including this post. I had thoughts of blogging 'better' in the New Year, but I said that a year ago as well. It has been hard getting this posted.
The previous calendar: durhamspark.blogspot.com/2022/11/events-and-anniversaries-around-years.html Late winter 2023: durhamspark.blogspot.com/2023/02/some-events-and-anniversaries-in-late.html
[1/16: An Islamist group in the UK was made illegal, as was praising the group, over their words regarding Hamas?][US attacks in and around Yemen, an Iranian attack in Erbil, Iraq; surprised to hear a someone at a US warmongering organization suggest leaving Iraq on NPR a week or two ago.]
[The Ackland at UNC returned a painting.]
[The Durham City Council might appoint a replacement for Williams on the 16th. Is the coverage of the results in Iowa oddly focused?]
Not for the first time this winter, that bright orange spot gleamed in the overcast sky the morning of January 9th and the sky on clear nights seems to have become murkier: durhamspark.blogspot.com/2021/02/the-starry-sky-stolen-and-estranged-and.html I recently came across a quote claiming that light pollution has been a worse problem for religion than philosophical argument.
It was reported on the local TV morning news January 10th that a new individual jaguar was recorded in Arizona for the first time since something like 2016 [further back?]. [ biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/southern-arizona-jaguar-video-confirms-new-cat-2024-01-05/ ]
Did I miss it? I expected much more hyping of the Twelfth Day January 6, 2021 riot at the US Capitol. Little about Gaza/the rest of Palestine or Ukraine in recent weeks, or even the hostages or captives in Gaza, and even less about Sudan and Myanmar, or Peru. Little about Israeli and Ukrainian military casualties and are there press releases, etc. about the fighting from Hamas or Hezbollah? The imperialist "Western" mainstream media won't talk to them, and rarely with official Iranians, Russians, Chinese people, and even American politicians on the right or left of Joe Biden and George W Bush, and then they talk about division and lack of understanding here and abroad. I realized that NPR often has less actual news than the BBC, though it does carry BBC programming.
China has allegedly been sending balloons over Taiwan, as an election season threat. [Mixed results regarding a Sino-American War?]
[A police officer in Boxtel, NL followed one for miles, but it was only a pigeon dropping. FBI training error in Boston. Giant "Baba Yaga" drones in Ukraine and mystery drones in Cambodia and at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in CA. FT439]
Australian anti-war journalist John Pilger passed away December 31, 2023. He was born October 9, 1939 in Bondi, New South Wales, near Sydney. His website: johnpilger.com/
UNAC petition for German anti-war activist targeted in Germany: durhamspark.blogspot.com/2023/12/unac-drop-charges-against-war-critic.html
From the NCGP: "Michael Dublin, a native of Raleigh, will be launching his 2024 campaign for US Congress, 2nd District [currently held by Democrat Deborah Ross], on Saturday, January 20th, 2:30pm at the John Chavis Community Center in Raleigh. [ www.ncgreenparty.org/michael_dublin_4_congress ]"
A tribute to the recently released Ana Belen Montes (born February 28, 1957; accused of giving Cuba information about a secret US Army base in El Salvador attacked by the FMNL March 31, 1987, during the civil war; she was imprisoned September 21, 2001-January 6, 2023 and is now in Puerto Rico): groups.io/g/cubanews/topic/103239943
Carrboro called for a ceasefire back in November (the 14th): www.carrboronc.gov/DocumentCenter/View/13769/Resolution-Calling-for-an-immediate-de-escalation-and-cease-fire-in-Israel-and-Gaza- and by January 5th Durham appointed a commission to meet next week on the issue. The Raleigh City Council has also been lobbied.
[ newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/denegation ]
[After the December 17th elections in Serbia: newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/democratic-pretence ]
? To check – regarding resistance in the Israeli military: www.businessinsider.com/gen-z-israeli-sent-prison-refusing-enlist-idf-fight-hamas-2023-12
The Biden administration won't stop Israel's criminal actions, etc: mearsheimer.substack.com/p/genocide-in-gaza
? To check – regarding the current lunar mission: phys.org/news/2024-01-navajo-depositing-human-moon.html
On Here and Now January 10th: NASA "scrapped" its lunar expertise decades ago, and now the news about Artemis and the recent private lunar mission. Before that, the Democrats now say no impeachment over policy differences or ineptitude?
? a new book – nss.org/book-review-cosmonaut-a-cultural-history/
On Jack Teixeia, Ukraine, etc.: libertarianinstitute.org/articles/truth-is-the-biggest-threat-to-dc-democracy/
libertarianinstitute.org/articles/biden-vote-for-me-or-hitler-wins/
A guest on 1A or On Point the first week of the year on bowing down to central banks being part of "democracy."
A politician was censored on public television in Poland, as seems to happen with political speech on public radio and television here in the Triangle?
[ ncstn.org/content/2024/01/10/shame-22-years-of-guantanamo/ ]
Carrboro signed the NWF Mayors' Monarch (Butterfly) Pledge December 8th: www.carrboronc.gov/DocumentCenter/View/13911/Monarch-Pledge-Proclamation-2023 ; www.carrboronc.gov/2630/Proclamations-and-Resolutions
www.durhamnc.gov/5099/Roadway-Resurfacing-Projects-in-2024
On Hamas: www.counterpunch.org/2024/01/05/hamas-without-the-hatred/
? – www.globalresearch.ca/why-biden-red-sea-strategy-blow-up-his-face/5844874
Deputy Chair of the Hamas Political Bureau and a founder of the al Qassam Brigades, Saleh al-Arouri (صالح العاروري, Salah al-Arouri or Salih al-Aruri; August 19, 1966 – January 2, 2024), was assassinated with six others around 5:41pm in Beirut's Dahieh neighborhood, one day before the anniversary of the 2020 assassination of Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad, which Hezbollah's Hassan Nasrallah was to address January 3rd or 4th.
The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, founded in mid-1991, are named for Izz ad-Din Abd al-Qadar ibn Mustafa ibn Yusuf ibn Muhammad al-Qassam (عز الدين بن عبد القادر بن مصطفى بن يوسف بن محمد القسام / Izz ad-Dīn ibn Abd al-Qāder ibn Mustafa ibn Yūsuf ibn Muhammad al-Qassām; 1881 or December 19, 1882 – November 20, 1935).
A leader of the left opposition Democratic Party in the ROK, Lee Jae-myung (born December 22, 1964) was stabbed in the neck January 2nd in Busan but is expected to recover.
Iran is sending a warship of its own to the Red Sea (?), where a flotilla is carrying out hostilities for Israel, so the Israelis can focus on pummelling Gaza.
NPR unfairly portrays China – see late December – but questioned a House bill that could target academics from China on Morning Edition January 2nd.
'Sandernista' On Point January 10th, with Briton Simon Sebag Montefiore, on the great "70-year peace," with "democracy" and "liberty," under the now shaky (?) "rules-based international order" of the US world empire. Biden can't moderate Israel's behavior, etc.? The USSR and Russia in Ukraine = bad empire-building, and the US in Iraq and the UK's empire, slavery, and monarchy – dodge and waterdown that question! The 'introspective' UK is OK. Monarchy in Europe, not always limited, and dynastic presidents here are OK, but not in the Third World. Empire = liberties growing. Bring in Steven Pinker's defense of the recent world order. Iran is allegedly working very hard to develop nuclear weapons – yet Israel is the Middle Eastern power with undeclared nuclear weapons.
12/30 – Outrage over Russian bombing across Ukraine, and hardly any news from Palestine. How many Palestinians and other Arabs did Israel kill today? Since when do the US and British governments consider the bombing of civilian infrastructure and factories (as is alleged by the mainstream media, with implied intentionality) illegal? They do it in their wars and support allies such as Israel doing it. How was Russia condemned at the UN Security Council any more than it usually is? South Africa formally charged Israel with genocide December 29th and Biden has been charged legally (see the December 31st post). In discussing journalists killed in 2023 on NPR's On the Media on December 30th they admitted that Israel's 2023 war has been unprecedented, but they seemed to put more emphasis on Russia.
www.middleeastmonitor.com/20231229-who-is-winning-the-war-in-palestine-its-not-the-idf/
Israel and the US: newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/master-and-servant
newleftreview.org/issues/ii144/articles/alexander-zevin-gaza-and-new-york
Aaron David Miller on NPR December 27th afternoon again referred to Biden as "preternaturally" pro-Israel and said that Biden has known Israeli prime ministers for decades, and something like Biden sees Israel as part of American history – like saying that Israel is part of this country? But the Biden administration can't or won't stop Israel's criminal actions, probably being committed with US weapons and maybe other aid.
Israel and the EU: newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/conjuring-trick
A BBC employee fleeing with his family from northern Gaza on an evacuation route reported seeing Palestinian men stripped to their underwear being taken behind a berm of sand, followed by the sound of gunfire. Elsewhere the refugees had to flee over dead bodies as a tank sped towards them.
A few days later there was a headline about Israel denying any knowledge about the summary execution of 9 (?) prisoners. In January there are allegations of Israel torturing prisoners, but that isn't a problem for the US government.
December 15th three Israeli hostages under a white flag were killed by the Israeli military.
Israel killed a senior IRGC officer in Syria, breaking news in Iran – Sayyed Reza Mousavi (? December 24th) – and coincidentally (?) US bases in Iraq were attacked around then, followed by US bombing around December 26th. The Iraqi government again condemned the US actions, but can't or won't evict or control the US military presence in their country. Trump assassinated Iranian major general Qassem Soleimani and others in Baghdad around 1am January 3, 2020, followed by Operation Martyr Soleimani January 8th, etc.
On December 27th it was reported that the supposedly moderate or whatever Benny Gantz was threatening to expand the Israel's war by invading Lebanon.
ISIS claims a high death toll bombing in Iran targeting a Qassem Soleimani memorial event in early January, around January 3rd.
US bombing of Iraqi-government connected forces in Baghdad, at the beginning of January, again, called terrorism by Iraq.
A pro-Democratic Party email said something about "peace" being an advantage for Biden in the 2024 election – but the US killed a large number of Houthis in the Red Sea a few days ago (supposedly the Arab world would only consider it direct US participation in the Palestine war if the US bombs Yemen [which the US and UK did January 12-13th: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_missile_strikes_in_Yemen ]) and Ukraine killed a large number of Russian civilians, in Russia, possibly with US help, besides everything else the US and NATO have done to all but join the Ukraine War as belligerents. The BBC described Russians as doing basically what many Americans did around 2003 – they watch their country's war on TV and believe their government, while in 2023 Americans supposedly live in a time of peace.
Maine's secretary of state, Shenna Bellows, appears on the national scene again, and is at the center of the story this time. In 2022 or 2023 she was on NPR's Here and Now, talking about Maine's investigation into the rightist group or proto-political party No Labels, and December 28th she declared Trump ineligible to run for office due to insurrectionism. Is she acting as a partisan Democrat or is this more honest? Are the Colorado justices elected or appointed Democrats? On All Things Considered January 1st Bellows claimed that under Maine law calls by citizens, some Republican officials (?), forced her to make a determination. There is a call to impeach her (unlikely) and in other states there are efforts to prevent a similar delisting from happening. December 31st or January 1st on NPR it was claimed that there will be real outrage and charges of partisanship if the Supreme Court doesn't bar Trump – really? And if the government bans a left candidate some day? Around the same time they, very unusually, named RFK Jr, Jill Stein, and Cornel West, who the Democratic Party would no doubt like to get rid of, especially if they became very popular. In Bush v Gore the Supreme Court stopped Florida vote counting, for George W Bush, and now the Democrats want the Supreme Court to bar the voting to begin with. The Democrats on North Carolina's State Board of Elections and in other organizations tried to violate laws and use extra-legal intimidation and harassment to keep the NC Green Party off the ballot in 2022 and now the NCDP, and apparently also the Florida Democratic Party, are trying to hand the 2023 primary election to Biden, by submitting only his name for the ballot, in apparent violation of NC election laws or rules. Can Biden defeat Trump twice, and govern for four more years?
Fintan O'Toole is soft on Biden and gerontocracy and Biden in the current issue of the New York Review of Books, and I don't think NPR has ever mentioned Biden's alleged dynastic pretensions and political adoption of Pete Buttigieg. Chris Christie dropped out of the race January 10th.
A January 2nd press release from the North Carolina State Board of Elections regarding the 2024 presidential preference primary March 5th – 10 Libertarians, 7 Republicans, and one Democrat are listed, while the Green Party and No Labels will nominate at their conventions. The Constitution Party isn't mentioned. Other candidates will have to petition for ballot access: www.ncsbe.gov/news/press-releases/2023/12/19/state-board-approves-presidential-primary-candidates
State political buttons are apparently a potentially lucrative trend with the presidential campaigns this year, starting with Marianne Williamson's state bird pins, or have I been missing this sort of thing every four years? – shop.marianne2024.com/
The Sinn Fein Bookshop and maybe Sambar Trading (both addresses listed on the right) have had a lot of Palestine or Arab solidarity related gear, long before the current war: www.sinnfeinbookshop.com/
Toni Negri passed away December 16th in Paris: newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/a-communist-life
newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/selling-citizenship
Earlier in December there was a local headline on NPR about a rare or 'lost' arboreal ant species having been found in Wake County, maybe in Raleigh. There is a very large black ant that seems to live in hollow trees here, for example there seemed to be colonies in a large neighboring post oak and a very large white (?) ash around the corner.
October 17th the Carrboro Town Council approved the 2-mile paved greenway extension along Bolin Creek, 6-1: bolincreek.org/blog/ and bolinforestclimateaction.org/
Dave Otto, co-founder of Friends of Bolin Creek, passed away December 4th.
Friends of Bolin Creek hosted a Winter Walk with Mark Chilton along Bolin Creek from the parking lot of Carrboro's Wilson Park January 7th 1-2:30pm; among other sights there are remnants of grist mills in the area: bolincreek.org
I thought I heard a report on December 27th about a sewage spill into the North Prong tributary of Northeast Creek in Durham, due to clogging with a non-woven material (?) – but it was pumped up and everything is fine, with no threat to humans or wildlife – how can that be? There was a lot of rain in the area December 26-27th.
The Quadrantid meteor shower is December 26 – January 16, peaking January 3 – 4 (The January issue of Astronomy magazine says the peak was at 4am on the 4th and it ranges from December 28th to January 12th), with a radiant around the Big Dipper, Draco, and Bootes in the north; asteroid 2003 EH1 might be a source; there is a theory that a related celestial body caused a deadly rain of rocks in Qingyang, China sometime in the lunar month between March 21 and April 19, 1490 (exactly the Aries period in the West): amsmeteors.org/meteor-showers/meteor-shower-calendar/ , en.wikipedia.org/wiki/(196256)_2003_EH1 , and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qingyang_event Comet 96P/Machholz and others might also be sources of the Quadrantids; Machholz last approached the Sun January 31, 2023 and will approach again on May 12, 2028, and it was discovered May 12, 1986: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/96P/Machholz
There are exceedingly weak showers around now radiating from Puppis, Vela, etc: amsmeteors.org/meteor-showers/2020-meteor-shower-list/
Asteroid Vesta is in Taurus, by zeta Tauri, the tip of the southern horn tip, the other being El Nath, by Auriga, in early January, visible with binoculars. The Crab Nebula is nearby and zeta Tauri was called Tien Kwan, the Gate of Heaven (in China?) and related to the Babylonian Shur-narkabti-sha-shuutuu. Halley's Comet was first seen nearby on a return in August 1835. A nova in Auriga near El Nath January 24, 1892: Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning, Richard Hinckley Allen, introduction dated February 16, 1899. Asteroid 37 Fides (discovered October 5, 1855 by Karl Theodor Robert Luther, April 16, 1822 in Świdnica, Poland – February 15, 1900 Düsseldorf, Germany) is/was near El Nath around now.
Some not very bright comets are visible and Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks in Cygnus in the evening has a proneness to fluctuate in brightness by the night. It is approaching for the spring and summer of 2024 and might be the source of the very weak K-Draconid meteors in December and showers that hit Venus. Dim 62P/Tsuchinshan is near the star Denebola in Leo, going east, and was discovered January 1, 1965 at Nanjing's Purple Mountain, or Tsuchinshan, Observatory.
Uranus, potentially visible without optical aids, is in Aries near very bright Jupiter, also in Aries, while Neptune is close to the south of the Circlet of Pisces. A new study, using old Voyager photos, claims that Uranus and Neptune are both very pale bluish-white, not green and blue respectively? Saturn is in Aquarius in the southwest, near the relatively bright star Fomalhaut, in position and brilliance, in the evening. The waxing Moon will be close by on the 13th and 14th. The Moon will be new January 11th at 6:57am, at first quarter on the 17th at 10:53pm, and full on the 25th at 12:54pm. Mars will be a morning star in late January and will be near Mercury but hard to see on the 27th. Mars will reach opposition and be bright in a year. Mercury and the waning Moon were close on the morning of the 9th (the Moon and Venus on the 8th and the Moon covered the brighter star Antares in Scorpius the Scorpion on the 8th, but not from here in the East), and Mercury and Venus on the 17th.
Note the eclipsesoundscapes.org citizen science project for the solar eclipse April 8, 2024.
The spring evening stars of: Alphard in Hydra the Sea Serpent or water snake, Spica in Virgo, Corvus the Crow or Raven, Arcturus (the fourth brightest star in the night sky) in Bootes, Ursa Major/the Big Dipper, Leo, etc are visible before dawn now, as is very bright Venus and much dimmer Mercury. The head of Draco and Vega (the fifth brightest star in the night sky) in Lyra the Lyre become visible above the trees around now; after I wrote this I saw that I've been missing it – Vega was high at dawn on January 2nd.
The Redwood City Seed Company in Redwood City, California went out of business at the end of 2023: ecoseeds.com/
The 8th annual NC Chinese Lantern Festival is November 17, 2023 – January 14, 2024: www.boothamphitheatre.com/events-tickets/events/chinese-lantern-festival
There were protests for Palestine Sunday, December 31st: www.shutitdown4palestine.org/ The Children's March for a Free Palestine was at 2pm December 31st at Raleigh's Moore Square. The first in 2024 in Raleigh that I know of was at 3pm January 7th and January 14th seems likely.
National week of action, January 1 – 7, Stand with Palestine, End US aid to Israel
The National American Muslim Task Force for Palestine, the ANSWER Coalition, etc. are organizing a March on Washington for Gaza on the National Mall (1600 Constitution Avenue, NW) Saturday, January 13th starting at 1pm: march4gaza.org [A brief world headline on NPR at 11pm on the 13th so far.]
ifamericansknew.org/about_us/action.html
Demanding a ceasefire resolution – send a letter to Wake County's Deborah Ross at: actionnetwork.org/letters/email-to-deborah-ross/ Green Michael Dublin is running for her seat.
Guantanamo at 22 actions: www.rightsanddissent.org/news/guantanamo-at-22-actions-are-happening-across-the-country-around-the-world/
From NC STN [Many photos: ncstn.org/content/2024/01/10/shame-22-years-of-guantanamo/ ]:
"Please share .....
NC Stop Torture Now will hold our annual anniversary vigil to mourn and protest the opening of Guantanamo prison, now in operation for 22 shameful years. We will also call to account Rep. Deborah Ross for her failure to take any action in support of accountability for torture or closure of Guantanamo, including refusal to sign on to former Rep. Price's letters. She is in a safe district, so doing so would not compromise her likelihood of re-election [January 5th – Green Michael Dublin is running against her].
The vigil will be held at noon on January 11. We will meet this year at 300 Fayetteville St., Raleigh, the "other" federal building, where Rep. Ross' in-district office is located. There will be speakers and the Raging Grannies will sing. Please bring signs, and masks are encouraged."
Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace's annual Close Guantanamo Now rally will be Thursday, January 11th 12:30-1:30pm at the Downtown Los Angeles Federal Building, at 300 North Los Angeles Street in LA, California.
Ichibancon 14 will be January 4 – 7 and 11 – 14 in Concord, NC: ichibancon.com/
From BAJ:
https://tomneilsonmusic.com/
Tom has received more than 30 national and international awards,
Suggested donation for tickets is $20. They may be purchased at the door,
January 8th the Mebane City Council approved a proposed Buc-ees in Alamance County [Approved in an 8 hour meeting: hawriver.org/buc-ees-hearing-in-mebane-ends-in-approval/ ], supposed to be the largest gas station in the world if built; one was proposed in Orange County at one point; a petition and more information at: hawriver.org/proposal-of-buc-ees-in-mebane-draws-considerable-opposition/
A Palestine war ceasefire resolution was going to be brought up again at the Raleigh City Council meeting scheduled for January 9th at 6pm. Was it held?
January 10th 1-2pm: ccrjustice.org/home/get-involved/events/guant-namo-gaza-resisting-state-violence-and-occupation
January 10th 9pm EST Electronic Intifada Can the ICJ stop Israel's genocide? – www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tLb7C2YcW4
Robert F Kennedy Jr will be in Raleigh January 12th and in Atlanta January 14th, and there will be private events (?) in Birmingham January 24th , in Charlottesville January 26th, and in Isle of Palms, SC January 28th, etc.
Youth-led Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Event at the Carrboro Century Center
Saturday, January 13, 2024
Haw River Assembly Virtual Legislative Update January 18th 6-7:30pm: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeC7f6WGDvIcRoXY3TfASSFuL5cD0ix9owAYzltyILzRWq5hg/viewform?pli=1
New Hanover County's 26th annual TreeFest will be January 19 – 20th, giving away up to five trees or grasses per household: www.nhcgov.com/CivicAlerts.aspx?aid=556
Haw River Assembly (HRA) State of the Haw address by the Haw Riverkeeper January 20th 10am-12pm: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSePFv0Q4BNSHoRWAFL6uLr-jL3SH7PNi1OKz-Pl76lxdn7JtQ/viewform
There will be a showing of American Hospitals: Healing a Broken System and panel discussion, including Dr Rakesh Patel, an internal medicine doctor and president of the Butner chapter of UE150, January 20th 3-5pm at the People's Solidarity Hub (1803 Chapel Hill Road in Durham). Organized by Healthcare for All NC, with the Triad Workers Assembly, Southern Workers Assembly, and the North Carolina Medicare for All Coalition: www.healthcareforallnc.org/american_hospitals_film_screening_and_panel_discussion
Democratic Party presidential primaries January 23rd in NH (without Biden?), February 3rd in SC, February 6th in NV, February 27th in MI; March 5th Super Tuesday includes NC (Protest instead of voting, because the current ballot has only one of the candidates, Biden?) and many others, and the process ends June 8th: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Democratic_Party_presidential_primaries The North Carolina and Florida Democratic Parties are apparently trying to have primaries with Biden as the sole candidate on the ballot.
The Republican Party presidential primaries are somewhat different: January 15th Iowa caucus, January 23rd NH primary, February 8th NV and Virgin Islands caucuses, February 24th SC, February 27th MI primary, March 2-4, etc; March 5th Super Tuesday includes NC, and the process ends June 4th: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Republican_Party_presidential_primaries
WakeUP Wake County annual Member Reception Tuesday, January 23rd 5:30-7:30pm at the ArtSpace in Raleigh.
HRA Muddy Water Watch Training January 25th 6-7pm: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeYy918jJNN6FrQ3pa6Jssh_gLofxe69xngpx0K0cegq2Un8w/viewform
HRA Trash Trout Cleanout January 27th 10am-12pm: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScecuMpJaumTOYGJ4C4hT3074SIvoPnCnKne4kmXkWH_Tn8jg/viewform
[Art Deco: Defining an Era January 27-April 21 in SC: www.brookgreen.org/events/art-deco-defining-era-0 ]
[February 6th in SC: www.brookgreen.org/events/red-wolves-smoky-mountains-bill-landry-and-lynn-hodges ]
Native coastal plants talk and giveaway February 7th 10am in Morehead City, free but registration at: www.eventbrite.com/e/2024-master-gardener-speaker-event-tickets-789473635897
Kami-Con will be February 9 – 11 in Birmingham, Alabama: www.kamicon.net/star
The NC Botanical Garden's Darwin Day Lecture 2024 will be Monday, February 12th 7-8pm – "Using science-fiction depictions to learn real-world evolution concepts" with Mohamed Noor, a professor of biology, interim vice provost at Duke, and a consultant for Star Trek series: reg.learningstream.com/reg/event_page.aspx?ek=0005-0014-e26d3b3d83b74d57b1592ecafa675cba
The NCBG was closed until January 1st, except for the natural area trails, Coker Arboretum on the main UNC Campus, etc.
There will be events for Saving Our Savannas: Stories of the Longleaf Pine over six months, starting in January 11th: reg.learningstream.com/reg/event_page.aspx?ek=0005-0014-f0dadf05c21d4e71af7973e844a2e6e8
The Lunar New Year will be Saturday, February 10th in 2024?.
Katsucon 2024 February 16 – 18 in National Harbor, Maryland, near Washington, DC: www.katsucon.org/
Defeat the Deep State – at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC February 17th: defeatthedeepstate.org/
HRA Stream Restoration in Durham February 17th 10am-12pm: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSePFv0Q4BNSHoRWAFL6uLr-jL3SH7PNi1OKz-Pl76lxdn7JtQ/viewform
[Moral March on Raleigh and to the Polls, March 2nd, in DC in June 21-23: ppc-nc.org/ and www.poorpeoplescampaign.org/ ]
Banzaicon will be March 8 – 10 in Columbia, South Carolina
March 16 – 23 Durham and Orange County creek weeks
The annual Triad Anime Con will be March 29 – 31 in Winston-Salem, NC
The African-American Legacy in Gardening and Horticulture Symposium March 30th:
Hayti Heritage Center
804 Old Fayetteville Street, Durham NC 27701
March 30, 2024, 10 a.m.
Free and Open to the Public
Signs of the Times protest exhibit at the NC Museum of History until March 31st: www.ncmuseumofhistory.org/exhibits/signs-times
The 20th annual Spring Shakori Hill Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance will be May 2-5 in Pittsboro, Chatham County, NC: www.shakorihillsgrassroots.org/tickets
LIBRARY BOOKSALES:
The Friends of the Durham Library's Books Among Friends has a new location, in the Shoppes of Hope Valley, 3825 South Roxboro Road, #131, zipcode 27713. There are satellite sales at each library. For more information and the Friends membership form, see: fodlnc.org/book-sales/ Their online store is at: shopfodlnc.org A pop-up DVD sale January 20th at the Main Library.
The Friends of the Chapel Hill Public Library has an online store at: friendschpl.org/online-book-store and there will be in-person sales April 12 – 14, August 23 – 25, and December 6 – 8 in 2024: friendschpl.org/FCHPLevents
The Friends of the Chatham County Library will have an in-person sale April 11 – 13 in 2024: www.friendsccl.org/ and they now have an online store, at: friendsccl.org/Store
The Friends of the Lee County Libraries has sales at open libraries: library.leecountync.gov/friends
There is supposed to be a sale every Monday 2-4pm at the Warren County Memorial Library: www.wcmlibrary.org/friends-of-the-library-book-sale/
Granville County: granville.lib.nc.us/friends-of-the-library/ and www.facebook.com/FriendsOfTheGranvillePublicLibrarySystem/
Person County: www.personcountync.gov/departments-services/departments-i-z/library/friends-of-the-library-1603
Vance: www.facebook.com/friendsperrymemoriallibrary/
Moore County: www.facebook.com/moorecountylibrary/
Caswell: www.caswellcountync.gov/blog/categories/library-programs
Alamance County: www.facebook.com/AlamanceLibraries , www.alamance-nc.com/library
The Friends of the High Point Library: www.highpointnc.gov/927/Friends and www.facebook.com/HighPointPublicLibrary/
Forsyth: www.facebook.com/groups/105298719513537 , www.forsyth.cc/library/ www.facebook.com/FCPublicLibrary , www.facebook.com/GSOLibrary , library.greensboro-nc.gov
See also Book Sale Finder: www.booksalefinder.com/NC.html
CALENDAR
There is uncertainty about how Aztec and Gregorian calendars should line up; the month of of Atemoztli (Descent of Water) might have been December 26-January 14 or November 29-December 18th : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztec_calendar ; in The Aztecs (1992) Richard F Townsend gives the dates December 11-30th. The following month is Tititl (Stretching); Townsend gives December 31-January 19; Wikipedia has January 15-February 3 or December 19-January 7. Next is Izcalli (Huauhquiltamalcualiztli ; Growth / Eating of Tamales Stuffed with Greens); Townsend gives January 20-February 8 and Wikipedia February 4-23 or January 8-27.
"In the year 22, of the 3rd month of winter, sixth hour of the day" the first "circle of fire" is supposed to have been seen by ancient Egyptian "scribes of the House of Life." Days later more were seen by Pharaoh Thutmose III (in power 1504-1450 BCE) and his army: Mysteries of the Unexplained, by The Reader's Digest Association, Inc., 1982.
September 24, 1235 a "General Yoritsume" and his army saw unusual lights in Japan – is this supposed to be Kujō Yoritsune (九条 頼経) / Fujiwara no Yoritsune (藤原 頼経) February 12, 1218 – September 1, 1256, in power 1226–1244? – Mysteries of the Unexplained, by The Reader's Digest Association, Inc., 1982.
Founded September 29, 1526 San Miguel de Gualdape in the future SC; had the first African slaves in future US territory and the first rebellion?
Henry Howe (October 11, 1816 – October 14, 1893)
October 27, 1180 an object compared to an airborne "'earthenware vessel'" was seen in or near "Kii province" in Japan: Mysteries of the Unexplained, by The Reader's Digest Association, Inc., 1982.
[Anna Elizabeth Dickinson (October 28, 1842 – October 22, 1932)]
The reported Delphos, Kansas UFO landing was November 2, 1971
'UFOs' noted by the English long ago: November 4, 1322 in Uxbridge, England; November – December 1387 in the county of Leicester and Northamptonshire; November 1, 1461 in Arras, France; and December 8, 1733 during the day in Fleet, Dorset, UK (?) – Mysteries of the Unexplained, by The Reader's Digest Association, Inc., 1982.
The first report of WWII's foo fighters? About 10 lights approached a B-29 at night November 23, 1944. An undated account of two lights coming from the ground near Hagenau, in France (?), near Germany, to the pilot's aircraft at 10,000 feet altitude, at 6am: Mysteries of the Unexplained, by The Reader's Digest Association, Inc., 1982.
The Bento Rodrigues dam disaster in Brazil was November 5, 2015
Apparently there is a Victims of Communism Day, November 7th, with students in Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Texas, Idaho, and Utah being given 45 minutes of government indoctrination that includes the 'victims' of capitalist Venezuela and the coronavirus and promotes the "Atlanticist" liberals' "double genocide theory:" redphoenixnews.com/2023/11/07/victims-of-communism-day-attempting-to-co-opt-october-revolution-anniversary/ The author of the 2009 book Red Holocaust, Steven Rosefielde, is an economics professor at UNC: econ.unc.edu/directory/stevenr/
Meteorites hit houses in Wethersfield, Connecticut twice in 11 years – April 8, 1971 and November 8, 1982; the first was sold to the Smithsonian and the second is in Yale's Peabody Museum of Natural History: news.yale.edu/2023/09/11/meteor-shower-more-1800-meteorites-land-yales-peabody-museum
The Peabody also has a softball size fragment that hit a house in Park Forest, Illinois March 26, 2003. In all more than 40 pounds/18kg fell, one piece 6.6pound/3kg. At least two houses and a fire station were hit. It is thought to have been up to 7000kg before going through the atmosphere and at least 900kg afterward. Also now in the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago and maybe Adler Planetarium: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Park_Forest_(meteorite)
Some others: the Ivuna meteorite landed in Mbeya, Tanzania, sister city of Tifariti, Western Sahara (mentioned under the SADR below), December 16, 1938; Sutter's Mill, CA around 7:51PT April 22, 2012, with very ancient impact nanodiamonds; Alais, France March 15, 1806 around 17:00; May 14, 1864 Orgueil, France; September 28, 1969 around 10:58am; Murchison, Victoria, Australia; the Tonk meteorite (also called the Chhabra or Jhalrapatan meteorite) fell in Tonk, India January 22, 1911 around noon, adding up to 7.7g 0.27oz; Elbogen, Czech Republic around 14:00 in Loket; Ensisheim, now in France 280pounds/127kg November 7, 1492, in a meter-deep hole, reportedly heard at least one hundred miles away; Golden, BC, Canada October 3, 2012 around 11:30pm PT: www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/meteorite-crashes-into-womans-bedroom-golden-bc-1.6207904 ; www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-55013725 early August 2020 in Sumatra; August 14, 1992 in Mbale, Uganda, after 12:40 UTC; a 3g/0.11oz fragment hit a young boy's head, but he was okay: ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1994Metic..29..246J/abstract or onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1945-5100.1994.tb00678.x ; May 18 1988 Torino, Italy: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1945-5100.1989.tb00938.x
October 17, 2012 the Novato meteorite fragmented over northern CA around 19:44PT: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novato_meteorite; Flensburg, Germany 2019; Marília, Brazil October 5, 1971: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mar%C3%ADlia_(meteorite)
A meteorite landed on a back porch in Bloomington, Illinois in the summer of 1938: web.archive.org/web/20201020093606/ and www.lpi.usra.edu/meteor/metbull.php?code=5076
September 29, 1938 – a meteorite in Benld, Illinois hit a car parked in a garage: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benld,_Illinois and web.archive.org/web/20180601054919/http://meteorites.wustl.edu/illinois_meteorites.htm
Fragments of the Příbram meteorite April 7, 1959 east of Příbram in the Czech Republic, the first fireball filmed with multiple cameras on approach? In the National Museum in Prague: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C5%99%C3%ADbram_meteorite
L'Aigle, France in April 26, 1803. The Neuschwanstein meteorite landed near Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, near Austria April 6, 2002, and had been tracked by the European Fireball Network, the first in Germany and the world's fourth: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuschwanstein_(meteorite) Österplana 065 (Öst 65), dug up after hundreds of millions of years (from Ordovician deposits), in the rich Thorsberg Quarry in Sweden, June 26, 2011: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%96sterplana_065
February 12, 1947 Sikhote-Alin, Russia; February 8, 1969 Allende, Chihuahua, Mexico; February 1, 1938 Aztec, NM; July 9, 1929 Bald Mountain, NC (which one?); January 15, 1796 in Bila Tserkva, Kyiv, Ukraine and June 30, 1908 in Kaharlyk and September 2, 1955 in Zvonkov; March 25, 1843 Bishopville, SC; July 9, 2001 Bukhara, Uzbekistan; May 14, 1874 Castalia, NC (Nash County?); January 30, 1810 Caswell County, NC; July 1, 1933 Cherokee Springs, SC; May 24, 1892 Cross Roads, NC (which one?); April 9, 1919 Cumberland Falls, KY [and moonbows]; December 4, 1934 Farmville, NC (the renamed Coalglen, in Chatham County or the Farmville in Pitt County?); December 26, 1934 Fayetteville, AR; Ju1y 18, 1889 Ferguson, NC (which one?); April 21, 1913 Moore County, NC; October 31, 1849 Monroe, NC (in Union or Warren county?); 2016 in Mount Blanco, TX and Osceola, FL; September 23, 2003 New Orleans, LA; February 18, 1948 Norton County, KS; June 4, 1828 Richmond, VA; June 30, 1903 Rich Mountain, NC (which one?); June 20, 1919 Saint Mary's County, MD; after 21:54 on February 28, 2021 Winchcombe; 2013 Wolcott, CT. [April 1, 1921 Sharps, VA; February 2, 1922 Baldwyn, Mississippi; September 20, 1950 Murray, KY]
A list at: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteorite_fall [ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteorite_fall_statistics ]
December 21 1876 the Great Meteor; February 9, 1913 the Great Meteor Procession: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteor_procession ; Mysteries of the Unexplained, by The Reader's Digest Association, Inc., 1982
Boeing T-7A Red Hawk were first flown at Edwards Air Force Base November 8, 2023, replacing the Northrop T-38 trainer jet. Red Hawk refers to the Tuskegee Airmen, who flew aircraft with red tails and began flying Curtiss P-40 Warhawks: Air and Space Quarterly, winter 2023 issue.
Unexplained large explosions in an alfalfa field and woods beset a farm on Town Line Road in or near Venice Center, New York November 12, 1966 at 12:30am, November 12, 1967 at 12:30am, and November 12, 1968 at 12:34am, but not in November 1969, etc. – Weird America: A Guide to Places of Mystery in the United States, by Jim Brandon, 1978.
Female US Navy pilots operating from the aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower carried out combat missions for the first time November 15, 1994, during "Operation Southern Watch," enforcing the no-fly, no-drive zone in southern Iraq, part of the semi-war on Iraq from 1991 to 2003. They were also part of "Operation Deny Flight" in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1994 or 95. The USS Eisenhower was the first carrier with a male and female crew: Air and Space Quarterly, winter 2023 issue – online at: airandspace.si.edu/air-and-space-quarterly/winter-2024/first-women-combat-pilots
[Hythe, Kent, UK November 16, 1963, etc., and Sheerness mentioned again, in FT439 article.]
The first of several reports of something in orbit before Sputnik was November 17, 1956 – a captured meteor? – Mysteries of the Unexplained, by The Reader's Digest Association, Inc., 1982.
[November 14-17, 1974 in Bald Mountain, WA, near Chehalis – Weird America: A Guide to Places of Mystery in the United States, by Jim Brandon, 1978.]
November 18th was [the] 50th anniversary of NC Friends of State Parks? [ ncfsp.org/news/13294815 ]
Short-lived soviets in Alsace-Lorraine, at the time part of Germany, were put down by the French November 22, 1918?
According to the 2023 Old Farmer's Almanac, a pilot reported a UFO over northern Baffin Island in Nunavut November 24, 2018?
An iron meteorite landed in Mazapil (small deer in Nahuatl, mazatl/deer plus pilli/small? Traditional homeland of the Chichimec Guachichiles) in Zacatecas, in northern Mexico not far from Texas November 27, 1885, during the Andromedid meteor shower (stemming from Biela's Comet, discovered February 27, 1826), but the meteorite and the Andromedids are now thought to be unrelated.
2am on November 28, 1954 a reported UFO landing near Caracas, Venezuela
"The father of meteoritics" German physicist Ernst Florens Friedrich Chladni November 30, 1756 – April 3,1827
Frozen mallard ducks and hail are supposed to have fallen in Stuttgart, Arkansas the afternoon of November 30, 1973 – Weird America: A Guide to Places of Mystery in the United States, by Jim Brandon, 1978.
[Susanna Wright (August 4, 1697 – December 1, 1784)]
A brief blue light effect seen from a ship, the MV Trevean, on a windy day "under low cloud" out in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean December 1, 1959: Mysteries of the Unexplained, by The Reader's Digest Association, Inc., 1982
Former US ambassador to Bolivia Victor Manuel Rocha was arrested in Miami December 1, 2023 and charged with alleged spying for Cuba: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Rocha
Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, 1st Marquess of the Valley of Oaxaca (December 1485 – December 2, 1547)
According to the 2023 Harris' Farmer's Almanac, President James Monroe (April 28, 1758 – July 4, 1831) declared the Monroe Doctrine in his 7th ? annual message to Congress, December 2, 1823.
Saturday, December 3, 2022 two Duke Energy electrical substations in Moore County, NC, nearby southwest of Durham, in the Sandhills region, were expertly shot up, starting around 7pm, knocking out the power over much of Moore County. A curfew was imposed, schools closed, a shelter opened, and a reward offered. The death of Karin Zoanelli, 87, was dare a homicide. The power was restored by December 7th or 8th: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore_County_substation_attack
Early on April 16, 2013 several people cut communication cables and then carefully shot up 17 transformers at PG and E's Metcalf substation in Coyote, near San Jose, California, but there wasn't much power loss: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metcalf_sniper_attack In August and October of that year one man attacked electrical equipment in central Arkansas. In March and April 1975 a guarded PG and E substation was bombed twice by the NWLF, or so they claimed. December 31st that year the George Jackson Brigade bombed a substation in Seattle. In 2016 a man shot at a substation in Utah and had plans for further attacks. November 11, 2022 a Carteret-Craven Electric Cooperative substation in Jones County, NC was vandalized, knocking out power for over 12,000 people. In late November there were at least six attack in the Pacific Northwest, two with guns. The morning of December 25th four substations were attacked around Tacoma, knocking out the power to more than 14,000 people. Two men were arrested January 3rd, but apparently did it only as part of a plan for burglaries. There were also attacks on electrical infrastructure in Brazil around January 8, 2023. A man was arrested on suspicion that he bombed PG and E transformers in December and January: abc7news.com/san-jose-explosives-pge-transformers-blown-up-peter-karasev-arrest-sj-man-arrested-in/12910094/ , en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_grid_security_in_the_United_States
I think there was a blackout in Durham in the morning on Christmas Day 2022, because of unexpectedly high demand and very cold temperatures, though it was sunny. Christmas Day 2023 was much warmer.
A reference to it: ncnewsline.com/2023/11/15/a-year-after-devastating-winter-storm-power-plant-problems-still-likely-in-extreme-weather/
Tennessee abolitionist Elihu Embree (November 11, 1782 – December 4, 1820)
The Spirit rover on Mars 1/4/2004, followed by Opportunity.
According to the 2023 Old Farmer's Almanac, the famous abandoned ship Mary Celeste was found December 5, 1872?
December 7, 1981 rightist James Wenneker von Brunn attempted to seize members of the Federal Reserve Board in DC December 7, 1981.
The anniversary of the 1973 Endangered Species Act, itself in danger, was December 28th?
The Cash-Landrum UFO with helicopters sighting was December 29, 1980 near Houston (Dayton?), Texas, and was followed by radiation sickness among the witnesses and an unsuccessful attempt to sue the US government: Alien Agenda: Investigating the Extraterrestrial Presence Among Us by Jim Marrs, 1997.
December 29, 2008 a Free Gaza ship carrying relief supplies, doctors, journalists, and others, including former Congresswoman and Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney was intercepted by the Israeli navy. Free Gaza says their ship was in international waters when shots were fired, and it was rammed after refusing to turn back. Another Free Gaza ship was intercepted January 15th.
British naturalist Anna Blackburne (or Blackburne) 1726 – December 30, 1793.
According to the 2023 Harris' Farmer's Almanac, the USSR was founded December 30, 1922.
The San Luis Obispo, California December 30, 1946 UFO sighting over Morro Bay at dusk by writer Ella Young: "On the golden sky it looked very black. It came forward head on and had a very batlike appearance, owing to the curvature of its wings. I am not sure if there were motions at the extreme tip of the wings; but the strange machine seemed to stand still for several minutes, and its form was very distinct. Suddenly, it either lowered itself toward the horizon, or the bank of cloud-mist made an upward movement–maybe both movements occurred–for the machine passed behind the cloud and did not reappear. Immediately afterward, a great flush of color spread over the sea." From Jim Brandon's Weird America: A Guide to Places of Mystery in the United States, 1978, quoting John A Keel's The Mothman Prophecies, which doesn't offer further attribution. This Ella Young ( December 26, 1867 – July 23, 1956), a California writer from northern Ireland? – en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ella_Young
December 30, 1936 136,000 workers carried out the first UAW sit-down strike, at GM Fisher Body Plant Number One in Flint, Michigan, according to the National Day Calendar website.
December 30, 1980 a letter from the Selective Service informed Michael M Mouse, Mickey Mouse, 52, at the Anaheim, CA Disneyland "that he was in danger of becoming a draft dodger" According to the National Day Calendar website Disney said "We'll notify them that at 52 he's well over the draft age. And Besides, he's a World War II veteran. I suppose we'll also have to point out he's only a cartoon character." At the beginning of 2024 Mickey Mouse's early incarnation Steamboat Willy went into public domain.
The Communist Party of Germany's founding congress was December 31, 1918 to January 1, 1919 in Berlin.
Early on December 31, 1933 one of the mainly Scandinavian ghost or phantom aircraft of the 30's-40's was seen at a relatively close distance, about 400 meters, over a railroad station in Sorsele, Sweden. Ghost rockets appeared by 1939 – Phenomenon: Forty Years of Flying Saucers, edited by John Spencer and Hilary Evans, 1988. During and after WWII there were also military reports of foo fighters and 'counterfeit' aircraft: Our Haunted Planet by John A Keel, 1971, etc. Skeptical UFOs and Alien Contact: Two Centuries of Mystery by sociologist Robert E Bartholomew and psychologist George S Howard, 1998, mentions the December 14, 1909 to January 19, 1910 New England airship "hoax" and other airship and phantom aircraft flaps in the USA, Canada, the UK, New Zealand, South Africa, and Scandinavia around 1896-1946, just before the 'modern' era of UFOs began, but there are a many similarities and in 2023 we are again looking for hostile "airships" in a period very reminiscent of the lead up to WWI or WWII.
According to the 2023 Harris' Farmer's Almanac, Panama took control of the Panama Canal from the USA December 31, 1999.
Cuban president Fulgencio Batista fled the country early on January 1, 1959, following the December 31st Battle of Santa Clara. There is analysis of the nature of the Cuban Revolution at ml-review.ca/aml/index/subject.html but some of the debate seems to be be missing; it might have been in the related International Struggle Marxist-Leninist. 65th anniversary speeches by Cuban President Diaz-Canel: en.granma.cu/cuba/2024-01-04/the-mambises-will-continue-to-enter-santiago Raul Castro: en.granma.cu/cuba/2024-01-04/we-are-going-to-get-out-of-these-difficulties-as-we-have-always-done-by-fighting
According to Wikipedia, Occupy Wall Street began in New York City's Zuccotti Park September17, 2011, and the protesters were forcefully removed later that year, especially November 11th and December 31st. The Federal government under Obama and Biden at least spied on the national Occupy movement, and has been accused of actively opposing it. There were encampments in Chapel Hill, but I think Occupy Durham took the form of mass meetings at the plaza downtown rather than continuous occupation.
China announced the detection of what became known as the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, cause of COVID-19 December 31, 2019, and some actually want to make China liable for it, as if the USA paid for the post-WWI "Spanish Flu" that probably originated here.
The USSR launched Luna 1, the first spacecraft to approach the Moon and the first in a heliocentric orbit, January 2, 1958. The next year Luna 2 became the first spacecraft to land on the Moon or any celestial body, and Luna 3, launched October 4, 1959, was the first spacecraft to image the lunar far side.
Kenneth C Brugger (16 June 1918 – 25 November 1998) and Catalina Trail are credited with having discovered the eastern overwintering grounds monarch butterflies in Mexico, January 2, 1975.
The NPR business/economy program Marketplace was first broadcast January 2, 1989.
The Padcal No 2 copper mine disaster in the Philippines was January 2, 1992.
January 2nd is supposed to be National Science Fiction Day, according to the National Day Calendar website.
January 3, 1861 Delaware did not secede: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ordinance_of_Secession It had joined the US government December 7, 1787, the first state to do so, but was 12th to ratify the previous constitution, February 1, 1779, followed by Maryland, February 2, 1781: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_date_of_admission_to_the_Union , en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delaware
January 3rd is supposed to be National Drinking Straw Day, commemorating the 1888 patenting of a paper straw by Marvin C Stone, according to the National Day Calendar website.
Lieutenant Colonel Ivan Mikhailovich Chisov, navigator on a Soviet Ilyushin Il-4 bomber, free fell about 23,000 feet from his stricken aircraft in January 1942 and survived , landing on a snow-covered slope (?): www.futilitycloset.com/2023/09/18/four-mile-fall/ and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Chisov See also Juliane Margaret Beate Koepcke, who fell about 10,000 feet December 24, 1971 after lightning hit her Lockheed Electra flight over forested Amazonian Peru (?), American Alan Eugene Magee, a gunner on a B-17 bomber, fell about 22,000 feet, on to a train station's glass roof, in Saint-Nazaire, France January 3, 1943. Vesna Vulović, from Belgrade, Yugoslavia, fell about 33,3300 feet from a DC-9 over Srbská Kamenice, Czechoslovakia after a still unsolved terrorist bombing. Briton Nicholas Stephen Alkemade, a tail gunner on an Avro Lancaster bomber, fell about 18,000 feet east of Schmallenberg, Germany on March 24, 1944, impressing his German captors.
China's Chang'e 4 was the first spacecraft to carry out a soft landing on the lunar far side and deployed a rover, Yutu-2. Besides scientific instruments, the lander also carried the Lunar Micro Ecosystem experiment. The mission was launched December 7, 2018 and the landing was January 3, 2019. This mission was the first time the US and Chinese space programs were allowed to cooperate, following the April 2011 Wolf Amendment. Cooperation is probably even less likely with Obama's "Pivot to Asia" and Trump-Biden warmongering.
A US drone strike killed Iranian major general Qassem Soleimani, Abd Mahdi al-Muhandis of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces, and others outside Baghdad International Airport early on January 3, 2020. In assassinating Iranian and Iraqi officials, with whom the US is not in a declared war, in Iraq, without consulting other parties, the Trump administration probably violated international law, agreements with Iraq, and US law. Subsequently Trump threatened to attack Iran's cultural heritage, which would most likely be a war crime, similar to actions by IS, the Taliban, Nazi Germany, and the Spanish conquistadors, though it took a while for the media to admit the magnitude of what Trump said.
For the first time in history a human player beat the originally Soviet videogame Tetris January 3, 2024, 13-year-old Willis Gibson of Oklahoma.
The Spartacist/January uprising was January 5-12, 1919 in Berlin during the German Revolution, which began October 29, 1918, according to Wikipedia.
Jared Lee Loughner shot 19 people, including Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, Federal judge John Roll, and 9-year-old Christina-Taylor Green, killing 6, January 8, 2011 at a Safeway in Casas Adobes, Tucson.
Following US calls for full-spectrum dominance, including in space, and missile shields, China used a missile to destroy one of its old weather satellites January 11, 2007. The Dong Neng-3 missile, possibly an anti-satellite weapon, had been tested February 5, 2008. More recently Russia and India have also tested anti-satellite weapons. The USSR and the USA worked on such weapons throughout the Cold War, and the first successful interception seems to have been by the USSR in February 1970. The US tested anti-satellite missiles fired from a modified F-15 fighter in 1984-85.
Warfare in space could produce debris that would prevent human use of space long-term and anti-ballistic missile weapons make a nuclear war more likely. One country would think it had an edge and could escape retaliation by using nuclear weapons first, so other countries would be more likely to use their weapons, under the idea of 'use them or lose them.'
UNC – Chapel Hill apparently opened January 16, 1795, but did not have any students until that February.
The Revolutionary War Battle of Cowpens was January 17, 1781, near Cowpens in Cherokee County, in northwestern South Carolina, between victorious Continental forces under Brigadier General Daniel Morgan and British and Loyalists forces under Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton.
Comet Encke, the second known to be periodic, was discovered January 17, 1786. Encke is the source of meteor showers seen from Earth and maybe from Mercury. In the 80's it was proposed that a comet such as Encke could have been the origin of the swastika symbol: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_Encke
Patrice Lumumba, the first prime minister of newly independent Democratic Republic of Congo, was executed January 17, 1961, with the involvement of Belgium (which had held the DRC as a colony), the UK, and the USA. November 25, 1965 Mobutu seized power and later renamed the country Zaire; he wasn't deposed until 1997 and was supported by the USA and China.
Over Colonial Boston Harbor, in Massachusetts, UFOs and voices were reported in March 1639 and again January 18, 1644 and over the following two weeks – from Jim Brandon's Weird America: A Guide to Places of Mystery in the United States, 1978; mentioned in Governor John Winthrop's Journal, etc.
As part of the movement against the Afghanistan War and the Bush administration's plans for an invasion of Iraq, poorly covered by the US media at the time, there were demonstrations around the world and in the USA in January 2003, including massive demonstrations January 18th in Washington, DC and San Francisco, as well as smaller demonstrations elsewhere, organized by International ANSWER and Not In Our Name (NION).
According to the 2023 Old Farmer's Almanac, a 0.66-pound meteorite hit a medical office in Lorton, Virginia January 18, 2010; the location in Fairfax County had a Nike Ajax anti-aircraft missile site 1955-73; also: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorton,_Virginia
Venezuelan protester Manuel Esteban Paez Terán, or Tortuguita, was shot to death at "Cop City" in Atlanta January 18, 2023. There were protests afterward, January 20-22, and a march January 21st in downtown Atlanta, with damage to buildings and a police car was burned.
Saturnino Paredes Macedo, one of the founders of the Communist Party of Peru (Marxist-Leninist) (with José Sotomayor, and Abimael Guzmán, according to the Wikipedia entry), was born January 19, 1921 in Ancash, on the northern coast: pcpml.com/2021/01/20/viva-el-centenario-del-natalicio-del-dr-saturnino-paredes-macedo/. The PCP(M-L) itself was founded in January 1964, splitting from the Peruvian Communist Party (according to Wikipedia, while the party's website traces its origin to October 28, 1928 and Mariátegui); the PCP(M-L) is a member of the ICMLPO.
[January 20-21, 2006 the River Thames Whale, Willy, a northern bottlenose whale, a beaked whale, in the UK.]
A squareish lunar halo was reportedly seen January 21, 1913 from the RMS Balmoral Castle off of equatorial Africa? – Mysteries of the Unexplained, by The Reader's Digest Association, Inc., 1982.
January 21, 2024 is V.I. Lenin's 100th death anniversary.
420356 Praamizus, a large object beyond Neptune, was discovered January 23, 2012 and is named for a major ancient Lithuanian deity.
Supposed to be the first Abkhazian female pilot, and a veteran of WWII, Meri Hafizovna Avidzba was born January 24, 1917 and passed away April 12, 1986.
January 24, 1978 Kosmos 954, a malfunctioning nuclear-powered Soviet naval surveillance satellite disintegrated over Canada, requiring clean up of radioactive debris; the USSR paid restitution, though only half of what Canada asked for. Another malfunctioning nuclear-powered satellite, Kosmos 1402, fell to Earth early in 1983, but completely burned up or sank into the ocean.
The UN's International Day of Education is January 24th: www.un.org/en/observances/education-day
A UFO was reportedly seen in Denison, Texas around January 25, 1878. John Martin, a farmer from the Dallas area was hunting and described seeing a "large orange object;'" a report from another newspaper was reprinted in the Denison Daily News on the 25th and it had happened earlier, maybe on the 24th; this supposed to be the first time a UFO was likened to a "saucer;" the term "flying saucer" was coined by the media in 1947, though in that case "saucer" referred to the motion not the shape – Phenomenon: Forty Years of Flying Saucers, edited by John Spencer and Hilary Evans, 1988 – Amazon makes such 'older' books difficult to find without the exact title, "forty" not 40, etc.; also Mysteries of the Unexplained, by The Reader's Digest Association, Inc., 1982; Denison, next to the northern border with Oklahoma, is the birthplace of Dwight D Eisenhower (October 14, 1890) and Jim Hightower (January 11, 1943).
Hundreds of dead and dying or injured ducks of various kinds – canvasbacks, redheads, scaups – were found in Saint Mary's City, Maryland January 25, 1969; it was as if they had run into something or been near an explosion – Weird America: A Guide to Places of Mystery in the United States, by Jim Brandon, 1978 and Mysteries of the Unexplained, by The Reader's Digest Association, Inc., 1982. A site of early religious toleration, Saint Mary's City was officially founded March 25, 1634. The Maryland Toleration Act/Act Concerning Religion was passed April 21, 1649, but it failed later.
January 25, 1995 a scientific rocket was launched from Norway to study the aurora borealis and Russia thought it could be a nuclear missile and prepared to launch a nuclear counterattack, marking the first and only time that a nuclear power is known to have activated its "nuclear football" and prepared to fire off its weapons, though nuclear war almost began during the Cuban Missile Crisis as well.
The demonstrations that ultimately led to the overthrow of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak began January 25, 2011 (Egypt's National Police Day); Mubarak withdrew from office February 11th. As in the revolution in Tunisia, several people set themselves on fire in protest, starting January 18th.
The Brumadinho mining dam disaster in Brazil was January 25, 2019.
Louisiana became the 18th state April 30, 1812 and seceded January 26, 1861: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana
The Baia Mare cyanide spill in Romania was January 30, 2000.
Manitoba Pageant January 1960; July 1873 basis of Incident at Hawk's Hill, by Allan Wesley Eckert (January 30, 1931 – July 7, 2011): www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/pageant/05/boybadgerhole.shtml and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incident_at_Hawk%27s_Hill and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allan_W._Eckert
Allen Dallen Nease (February 1, 1914 – September 1984)
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin February 1, 1931 – April 23, 2007
Explorer 1, the USA's first satellite, was launched February l, 1958.
John Warner Barber (February 2, 1798 – June 22, 1885)
The shortest solar eclipse between 2000 BCE and 3000 CE was February 3, 919 CE, at 2.5 seconds.
[Elizabeth Graeme Fergusson (Betsy Graeme) (February 3, 1737 – February 23, 1801)]
Operation Bongo II, an FAA (human) experiment looking at the impact of sonic booms on the people and buildings of Oklahoma City, began February 3, 1964. Air Force F-104, B-58, F-101, and F-106 aircraft broke the sound barrier over OKC 1,253 times over six months according to Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_City_sonic_boom_tests
[According to Wikipedia Japanese Setsubun (節分) is February 3rd in 2024 and was February 3rd in 2023. Risshun (立春) is February 4th: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Setsubun Candlemas is February 2nd: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candlemas
Workers at the Monaghan Lunatic Asylum, now called Saint Davnet's Hospital, declared the first of several Irish soviets, January 29 – February 4, 1919: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_soviets
Russia's Znamya-2 space mirror experiment, originally a solar sail experiment, launched October 27, 1992 on Progress M-15, was successfully deployed near the Mir space station February 4, 1993. The 20-meter mirror created a five kilometer wide spot lit as if by the light of a full Moon, racing at 8 kilometers a second from the south of France to western Russia. I wonder if anyone was upset by this gigantic light trespass, or was everything prearranged? I remember that a Russian orbital mirror was covered in Durham's Herald-Sun newspaper at the time. The satellite was deorbited and burned up over Canada after a few hours.
February 5, 1999 Znamya-2.5, 25 meters wide and designed to illuminate an area 7 kilometers wide with light equal to five to 10 full Moons, was deployed but damaged before much could be done. A Znamya-3 60 to 70 meters wide had been planned, but wasn't built. In a limited way maybe Znamya was going too far, though these were just experiments.
February 5, 1958 the Tybee Bomb (nuclear) was lost in Georgia.
Emanuel Swedenborg (born Emanuel Swedberg; February 8, 1688 – March 29, 1772)
[February 8, 1928 Camden, New Jersey; summer 1970 Caldwell, NJ and summer 1972 Elberton, Georgia: Weird America: A Guide to Places of Mystery in the United States, by Jim Brandon, 1978.]
Philippine revolutionary Jose Maria Canlas Sison (Joma) (February 8, 1939 – December 16, 2022).
The Charonne Massacre was February 8, 1962 at a Paris Metro station, where the police killed nine trade unionists demonstrating against a French terrorist group during the Algerian War.
[William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773 – April 4, 1841): www.nps.gov/people/william-henry-harrison.htm ]
Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov (June 15, 1914 – February 9, 1984)
The first confirmed discovery of extrasolar and pulsar planets, around pulsar PSR B1257+12, was announced January 9, 1992 (found at Arecibo in Puerto Rico February 9, 1990 ?): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PSR_B1257%2B12 And a comet? – exoplanet.eu/catalog/psr_1257_12_d--236/ Another pulsar planet May 30, 1993 and the first around two stars and in a globular cluster of stars: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PSR_B1620%E2%88%9226_b The first planet around a main-sequence star was announced October 6, 1995: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/51_Pegasi_b Multiple planets around a main-sequence star in a multi-star system, Upsilon Andromedae, in 1999: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upsilon_Andromedae The discovery of a planet around Proxima Centauri, only about 4 light years away, but not visible from here, was announced August 24, 2016: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxima_Centauri_b A planet orbiting two stars was announced/discovered September 15, 2011: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler-16b About 5,576 extrasolar planets have been found (by January 1, 2024, according to Wikipedia).
The Lunar New Year will be Saturday, February 10th in 2024? [A yang and wood year of the dragon (one character for dragon, 辰) from February 10, 2024 to January 28, 2025: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_astrology ? So dragons feature in Japanese 2024 New Year cards or nenga [年賀状, nen-ga-jō] in January: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_New_Year].[正月, Shō-gatsu][Add?]
Kosaburo Eto (江藤 小三郎, Etō Kosaburō, 20 April 1946 in Sage Prefecture – 11 February 1969 by burning, in front of the National Diet in Tokyo, Japan): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosaburo_Eto
New Jersey abolished slavery, gradually, February 15, 1804, yet slavery still existed there in 1865: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Jersey and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_slavery_in_New_Jersey
[Susan B. Anthony (Susan Anthony), February 15, 1820 – March 13, 1906]
90482 Orcus, a large object beyond Neptune, with a moon, Vanth, was discovered February 17, 2004 and is named for a chthonic Etruscan/Roman deity.
Georgian Bolshevik Sergo Konstantinovich Ordzhonikidze October 24, 1886 in Ghoresha, now in the western central area of the Republic of Georgia – February 18, 1937 in Moscow, interred in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis.
Swedish naturalist Daniel Carlsson (Charles) Solander (February 19, 1733 – May 13, 1782).
Abkhazia became a treaty republic within (?) the Georgian SSR December 16, 1921 (or in March?) and an autonomous soviet socialist republic within the Georgian SSR February 19, 1931.
Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping passed away February 19, 1997. He had been born August 22, 1904. His predecessor, Hua Guofeng, was born February 16, 1921 and passed away August 20, 2008.
February 12, 1733 the colony of Georgia was founded, initially without slavery. Georgia ratified the US Constitution January 2, 1788. Georgia seceded January 19, 1861 and was the last state brought back in; a new flag February 19, 2003 yet I saw the previous one flying in the greater Atlanta area in fall 2018? Many states seem to have lacked flags until the second half of the 19th century. Utah will adopt a new flag March 9, 2024 and MN May 11th: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flags_of_the_U.S._states_and_territories
The Rage Against the War Machine anti-war demonstration in DC was February 19, 2023 and there will be a sequel February 17, 2024.
[Angelina Emily Grimké Weld (February 20, 1805 – October 26, 1879)]
According to the website Prisoner Solidarity, political prisoner Tsutomu Shirosaki might be released from prison in Japan on February 20, 2027: prisonersolidarity.com/prisoner/tsutomu-shiros
The Merriespruit tailings dam disaster in South Africa was the night of February 22, 1994.
February 23, 1942 a Japanese submarine shelled a Bankline Oil Company refinery in Goleta, California, not far north of Santa Barbara, and the great and deadly phantom L.A. air raid was early on February 25th: Alien Agenda: Investigating the Extraterrestrial Presence Among Us by Jim Marrs, 1997.
Great horned owls lay eggs around late December to March here, and incubation takes about a month. They usually occupy nests built by hawks, crows, or ospreys, and sometimes share bald eagles nest with the owners. February 23, 1992 great horned owls were found nesting on a platform built for ospreys at (in?) the North Pond of Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge on the coast of North Carolina near Roanoke Island – Birds of the Carolinas: Second Edition, 2006. Pea Island is south of Oregon Inlet and is no longer a separate barrier island, connecting to much larger Hatteras Island, though any new inlets opened by storms are closed artificially. The area might be vanishing beneath the water, possibly in part because the natural movement of sand has been interfered with, along with climate change, but Highway 12 hasn't been relocated. Large ponds or lagoons take up much of the sandy Island's interior (I think the freshwater floats on saltwater), with few trees in my memory, compared to a place like the very wide area around Cape Hatteras. Pea Island is relatively narrow, but apparently surrounded by a much wider area of very shallow water in Pamlico Sound, potentially habitat for stingrays. The Refuge was created around May 17, 1937. I heard one or more barred owls here for the first time in weeks January 7th in the afternoon; barred owls also nest in the winter, usually in tree hollows, but they sometimes occupy hawk or crow nests.
British naturalist Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, February 24, 1743 – June 19, 1820.
An explosion and a broken meteorite fell in Tombstone, Arizona on February 24, 1897: Weird America: A Guide to Places of Mystery in the United States, by Jim Brandon, 1978.[?]
Apparently the Zweiss planetarium projector, of which there is or was one in use at UNC's Morehead Planetarium, was first unveiled at Munich's Deutsches Museum October 21, 1923. The projector had first been proposed February 24, 1914. The Deutsches Museum had opened November 12, 1906: spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2023/10/centennial-projection-planetarium.html
The new Marc Basnight Bridge over Oregon Inlet opened February 25, 2019, replacing the 2 1/2-mile long Herbert C Bonner Bridge, which had been built by November or December 1963. I think the SELC wanted a much longer bridge, going around collapsing Pea Island. Oregon Inlet, between Bodie and Pea/Hatteras "islands," was created by a hurricane and found by the sidewheel ship Oregon, September 7, 1846 – The North Carolina Gazetteer: A Dictionary of Tar Heel Places and Their History: Second Edition, 2010
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